Digimon Tamers: The Silver Lining
by Mugen no Ken
Summary: (ON HIATUS) As agents of darkness move to destroy everything they hold dear, the Tamers must discover the truth about themselves, and the Digital World.
1. Dreamer's Vision

Disclaimer: Bandai and Toei Animation own Digimon Tamers and its characters. Sano Shigeru, Asmodeusmon, Muertemon, the other Soldiers of Death and certain plot concepts contained within this series, on the other hand, are mine. 

Notes: So… some of you may be wondering, I guess, what the hell happened and why Silver Lining was deleted.

Well, as the readers of the original version of this may know, I announced revisions for Chapters 1-11 at the end of my last chapter, #12. Well… things happened, and as I looked through the series I noticed more & more things that NEEDED to be changed… and more things that I wanted to change. A number of these things wound up changing certain points of the plot considerably… so I knew that, by the time I was done, things would be quite different. Thus, I made the decision to delete the original so that I could upload the new version. Big changes may not be apparent yet in this chapter, but they will soon. At the end of every chapter, I'll make notes to explain why things in that particular installment were changed. For the most part, completing these revised chapters shouldn't take as long as it does to write a whole new fic. I know exactly where the story needs to go, so even for chapters that have massive changes, all that really needs to be done is… well, type everything up. ^^; So, hopefully I'll be back to where I was before in no time… but don't hold me to that. :P I'll do my best, however. 

Time Line Note: This is after Tamers episode 21, the episode where Juri met Leomon, ignoring everything that came afterwards.

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Digimon Tamers

The Silver Lining

Chapter 01- "Dreamer's Vision"

By: Infinity Blade

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_*Cold… it's so cold… wait… how…*_ A boy with a head of shaggy brown hair lifted his head up and opening his eyes. There were trees all around him, and he was sprawled out on the ground… But last he had known, he had been in bed.

Matsuda Takato groaned and grabbed the nearest tree trunk, using it to lift himself up.

It felt and looked like morning… just after dawn… But a thick fog covered the area, making it difficult for him to see much. _*How in the world…?*_ He could feel the bark of the tree against his hand, the grass beneath his bare feet… Just like… _*The rain… the dream with Ruki and Renamon… I could feel the rain…*_

He began to walk, slowly, just trying to figure out what on Earth was going on… But his search ended quite abruptly as a beam of energy streaked towards him. He hit the ground while it tore across the air above him, shattering any tree it came into contact with. Takato took a couple of deep breaths in and turned his eyes up to see where that had come from…

He could see a large figure… it appeared almost as a shadow, though it's shape seemed like that of a reptile… a dinosaur? And there were two other figures as well. One was a green and white furred beast man with guns for hands, and wearing a pair of blue jeans and a gun belt. Near him was a yellow & white furred, four legged fox with nine tails, each of which had fire at their ends. "Galgomon! Kyuubimon!" 

No response came as they launched their attacks into the beast. Takato balled his hands into fists and looked around, _*But where's… where's Ruki and Lee-kun?*_

Takato's expression changed from confusion to horror though as another beam flew out from the shadowed creature, right through Galgomon. The beast man didn't even have the opportunity to scream out before his body broke apart and was loaded into his executioner. Kyuubimon growled and leapt forward, only to have her body caught by one of the creature's claws. Takato could only watch, helpless, as the thing squeezed Kyuubimon tightly… There was a snapping sound before her body went limp and fell apart much like Galgomon's.

The figure reared its head back and unleashed a mighty roar of victory…

And as he did so, the world suddenly seemed much darker…

***

Takato snapped up in his bed, his body drenched with sweat. He clutched his chest, inhaling deeply as he tried to grasp what had just occurred… It had seemed so real, and yet he was sitting in his bed…

As realization started to hit him, he bent over, eyes wide. He held the sides of his head and shook. "No, that… that couldn't have been real…  Ruki… Lee-kun… Renamon… Terriermon…"

Yet, it had been just like that dream with Ruki and Renamon, when he first got his Digivice…

 "NO!" Takato shouted to himself, and then winced. He hoped he hadn't woken up his parents with that…

He gulped and hugged himself, clenching his eyes tightly shut. _*No… Ruki and Lee-kun are great Tamers… better than me… I just get by on luck, and Guilmon always managing to evolve at the right times. They're more skilled than that; they wouldn't let something like that happen to them.*_

Takato smiled weakly and nodded. "Right… just my overactive imagination…"

As he looked across his room, however, he noticed his silver and red Digivice sitting on his desk…

"Of course," he murmured, "my imagination has a bad habit of coming to life…"

***

Every step became a chore for the sleep deprived Takato as he unenthusiastically marched through the entrance to his schoolyard. He felt like just falling out right here, taking a nice, long nap… but of course, he couldn't do anything of the sort. He would simply have to get through the next few hours… then maybe sleep for the rest of the day once he got home.

"You look like the living dead," a young boy's voice commented. Takato's eyes slowly found the speaker, a boy his age with spiky brown hair wearing a visor, Shiota Hirokazu. He was standing beneath a tree with his best friend, a green-haired boy with glasses named Kitagawa Kenta.

"I've been up since three in the morning," Takato droned, deadpan. 

"Hey guys!"

Takato's face brightened and he spun around to see the blue-haired Lee Jenrya entering behind him. On his shoulder was perched a cream-colored bunny dog with green stripes.

"Lee-kun! Terriermon!" Takato exclaimed happily.

"Well, hello to you Takato," Hirokazu said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, but Takato didn't seem to notice. "How are you? Oh, me? I'm doing great...!"

"Um, hi," Terriermon said to Takato, as both he and his Tamer arched an eyebrow in unison.

"You okay Takato?" Jenrya questioned.

Takato stared for a moment, before he started rubbing the back of his head, laughing nervously. "Oh, I'm- I'm just fine!"

"-see, I was gonna give you this great card, if you were interested… what, you're not? Oh, well, then I'll just use it to kick Kenta around again-"

A bead of sweat developed on the side of Kenta's forehead. "Hirokazu, I don't think he's listening…"

Takato blinked and looked over at the other two boys. "…did you say something?"

Hirokazu bowed his head, sighing. "Nevermind."

Kenta put a hand over his mouth to keep from snickering. "C'mon guys, we need to get to class, or else Sensei will make us stand out in the hallway again…"

***

Asanuma Nami looked out at her class. She was used to certain children not taking much interest in certain things she taught… But when those children decided not to pay attention to her when she called for them, then she naturally got a little annoyed. Setting the book she was reading from down, she walked between the desks of her students until she reached Takato's. He was looking out of the classroom's window with a rather blank expression… and he had also ignored her call of his name three times. "Matsuda Takato, are you even _listening_ to me?"

Takato snapped back to attention, and in his panic grabbed the nearest book he could, opening it, "Y-yes, Sensei, I-"

"Takato-kun, for one, we're working on math, not history," Nami said, "And two, you have it upside down." This caused a majority of the classroom to break into laughter save for a girl with brown hair wearing a green dress, Katou Juri. Hirokazu & Kenta attempted not to laugh too, but failed in that noble attempt quickly. Takato sighed and slumped down in his seat.

Takato frowned to himself. He knew it wasn't odd for him to be caught daydreaming… But he just couldn't get that dream off of his mind, even though he knew that Jenrya & Terriermon were all right…

"Sorry… I just…" He blinked and looked up to find his vision suddenly becoming very blurred, "I…"

Nami gave him a strange look. "…are you alright…?"

"Yeah, I…" Takato clutched his desk suddenly as a searing pain shot through his body, which resulted in his breathing became much heavier.

He could barely tell what was going on around him, but he thought he felt someone- likely his teacher –feeling his forehead and making a comment about sending him to the nurse. It was then, however, that he blacked out completely.

"Takato-kun!" Nami shouted as the boy fell over and she barely caught him. Hirokazu and Kenta immediately sprang out of their seats to assist their teacher, while the rest of the class watched, not knowing what to do. 

As they got Takato back into his seat, Nami looked at her student fearfully. She didn't exactly _love_ this job, but seeing him like this caused a sense of concern to rise in her… and not just for the fact she could get blamed for this.

Nami snapped her head around to look at the rest of the class. "Someone get a nurse. NOW."

Juri shot up from her seat and dashed to the door. She paused to take a quick look back at Takato, then sighed and went to do what she was told. 

***

After school, Jenrya headed out of the building with his ever-present Digimon partner on his shoulders. His cheerful mood stopped abruptly, however, when he saw a sullen looking Hirokazu, Kenta, and Juri just outside the school building. The boy immediately headed over to the group to see what was wrong, "Guys? You okay?"

Juri shook her head and glanced at the blue-haired boy. "Takato-kun just collapsed in class today…"

Jenrya looked at her in surprise and Hirokazu just nodded. "A little bit after that the nurse called for an ambulance… his parents have been notified too."

"Any idea what happened?" 

Kenta shook his head, "No clue. We're planning on heading over to the hospital to see if we can find anything out…"

Jenrya took a breath and thought as he took it all in, "…alright. I'll meet you guys at the hospital."

"Where are you going?" Hirokazu asked.

"To Ruki's," he replied simply, then glanced at Terriermon, "think you can tell Guilmon?" 

"No problem Jen," Terriermon replied before hopping from his shoulders to the wall surrounding the school. "Where should I meet you later?"

"Don't worry, just stay with Guilmon," he stated, "I'll come by once we figure out what happened." The Digimon nodded and then leapt down the other side of the ledge.

 Juri opened her mouth to say something, but then promptly closed it as Jenrya ran off and out of sight.

***

Terriermon hustled through the park as fast as his little legs could carry him, hopping up the stairs that led to the small building Guilmon stayed in, "Guilmon!" he called out, but there was no answer. Strange. The little Digimon finally reached the top of the stairs and Guilmon's house to find it rather silent.

That is until he heard Guilmon cry out in pain. Terriermon immediately leapt over the gate in front of the entrance to find Guilmon lying on the floor clutching his chest. Culumon was beside him, looking quite worried. 

"Culumon, what happened to him?" Terriermon asked as he landed.

"We were… playing, culu… and he just fell over!" Culumon said frantically, "Was it something I did?"

Terriermon shook his head. "No, I don't think it was you Culumon… how long ago did he collapse?"

Culumon looked at him, "…a while ago, culu."

The other Digimon put a hand to his head and rubbed it. "Well, yeah you wouldn't know exactly when… you don't have a watch or anything…"

"A… watch?"

Terriermon sweatdropped. "Nevermind," he mumbled, walking over to Guilmon. "Uh, Guilmon…?" 

The reptilian Digimon didn't reply, so Terriermon shook him slightly, causing him to cry out in pain.

"Coulda told you not to do that…"

"Then why didn't you?" Terriermon sighed before sitting down and frowning, "I hope Jen finds out what he needs to about Takato and gets back here fast…"

***

Makino Ruki walked at a relatively slow, but steady pace as she headed home after school. Just the same as she always did… There was no need to rush, no need to wear herself out getting home. 

She sighed slightly and reached up to rub one of her shoulders… While she felt the pain much less than she had days before, she still felt somewhat sore from the events that had occurred in their battles with Indaramon… Throughout their second encounter with the horse Deva, Takato showed in a very obvious manner that he was feeling Growmon's pain. She always couldn't help but find it strange how that was able to happen… It had never happened to her no matter how badly Renamon or Kyuubimon had been hurt, and she had no knowledge of it happening to Jenrya either.

So, she was quite surprised when, towards the end of the battle before Takato slashed Hirokazu's 'blue card' that both she and Jenrya felt the pain of their partners at one point. It seemed nothing compared to what Takato had been through, but it was so sharp, sudden… It took the both of them completely off guard. And the pain had lingered for a few days afterwards. 

_*Though if that little bit stuck with me like that… I can only imagine how Takato must feel after some of our battles…*_

Lost in her thoughts, Ruki almost completely passed by her house's front gate. She shook her head and opened it, and once on the other side closed it. She took a brief look around the home's yard before heading to the front door, only to stop suddenly as she heard a knocking at the gate. Blinking, she spun back around and opened it to find Jenrya standing there, looking quite out of breath, "…Jen? What-"

"Takato…" Jenrya panted before taking a couple deep breaths. "He collapsed in school… they called the hospital almost immediately, he's been there for an hour or so…"

Ruki stared at him for a moment. Takato didn't seem ill the previous day, when he had his little situation in dealing with Juri chasing after that Leomon… "Uh…" She thought for a moment before turning around. "Wait here, I need to go change my clothes."

***

Jenrya eyed at Ruki while they waited for the hospital elevator they were in to rise to the correct floor. She had been oddly quiet the whole way here. "Something wrong?" Jenrya asked cautiously. 

"…no."

Jenrya crossed his arms, unconvinced by her answer. "So, what is it then?"

Ruki flashed him a look that made him want to get out of the elevator right then. The folly of getting Ruki angry in a place where he couldn't escape dawned on him and he gulped nervously. 

"If you must know, I just don't like places like this, okay?" Ruki stated. "They're full of sick and dying people, and… Oh, I don't know why I even came with you. It's not like Takato's _dead_ or anything. You said that he hadn't gotten any sleep last night. He probably just passed out or something…"

Jenrya's eyes narrowed. "Ruki," he said sternly, "I doubt they'd call an ambulance for him if all he did was fall asleep. There could be something seriously wrong with him! How can you act like that? I thought we were all friends."

Her violet eyes stayed locked on him, but her hard expression started to falter and she looked away. "Sorry," she said quickly under her breath. Then, as fast as possible, she exited the elevator doors as they opened.

Jenrya watched her as he got out as well. "Well, that's new," he muttered to himself before going to catch up with her.

The two headed through the hallways until they found Takato's room. There they also found Juri, Hirokazu, and Kenta waiting around outside the room just as a doctor came out with his parents, Takehiro and Mie. 

"How is he?" Hirokazu asked anxiously.

"His heart rate and breathing have stabilized since he was picked up at the school," the doctor stated, "and I honestly can't find anything _wrong_ with him now other than the fact he seems to be in a deep sleep." He sighed and shook his head, and then glanced at his watch. "Sorry to cut this short, but I have an appointment. I'll be back in a bit to run some more tests." Mie just nodded as he walked off.

Choosing to wait until the doctor was done, Jenrya then walked up to the Matsudas and bowed. "Hi, my name's Lee Jenrya, and this is Makino Ruki." The girl bowed as well. "We're friends of Takato's."

Takehiro nodded slightly. "Thanks for coming by, we appreciate it," he then sighed. "Listen, we're going to go down to the cafeteria, you can go in and see him if you want."

Ruki took a deep breath as she entered the room last. She tried to stay behind everyone, and discreetly attempt not to look at Takato… but this was a futile attempt. As soon as she stepped foot inside, she saw the boy lying on his bed, motionless except for his breathing. She looked at the equipment he was hooked up to and shivered involuntarily.

 "Takato-kun…" Juri murmured. "What could have happened to you?"

"Think it has anything to do with how weird he was acting this morning?" Kenta asked.

Jenrya just shrugged. "Possible, I guess…"

Ruki turned her eyes away from Takato's still body and looked around the room. As she noticed his clothes thrown over a chair, she started to wander over in that direction.

"What… are you doing…?" Hirokazu said suddenly once he noticed Ruki searching through Takato's belongings.

She didn't reply until she found his Digivice and held it up.

"Hey, that's Takato's!" Kenta exclaimed.

"Really?" Ruki said sarcastically, and then looked at Jenrya. "One of us needs to hold onto this Jen.  It's too important to just leave lying around… I mean, last thing we need is for someone to sneak in here and swipe it."

"Who in the world would do that?" Juri asked.

"Who knows at this point?" Ruki asked. "But it's something we can't take a risk with, in my opinion."

Jenrya shrugged. "Can't really disagree with you there… we can't just risk it laying around up here." He thought for a moment, "My house is a pretty busy place… just to be safe, why don't you take it?"

Ruki nodded and put it on her belt next to her own blue & silver device, "I think I can manage that."

***

"Y'know, this distracted my mind so much I think I did pretty bad on today's math test…" Hirokazu muttered as the group walked down a path in the park towards Guilmon's house.

"You mean worse than usual?" Kenta asked, to which Hirokazu replied by hitting his friend over the back of the head.

Ruki just sighed and rolled her eyes as they walked up the stairs to the small building. As they approached it, though, a more serious expression crossed her face when they were able to see into the place; Guilmon was lying on his side in pain while Terriermon & Culumon watched over him. 

"Terriermon!" Jenrya shouted, rushing ahead of the group and opening up the building's gate.

"Don't touch him, Jen," Terriermon warned. "Last time I tried he howled like a banshee."

"Don't tell me Guilmon's out of it too…" Hirokazu groaned, hitting his forehead.

"Well, it's possible we're so connected to our Digimon that with Takato doing so badly, it somehow affected Guilmon too," Jenrya said.

"Very possible, when you consider what happens to Takato when Guilmon's hurt in battle," Renamon said as she appeared seemingly from out of nowhere. This caused Kenta, Hirokazu, and Juri to jump back in surprise.

"Do you HAVE to do that?!" Hirokazu shouted, but went ignored by the fox.

Ruki looked down at Guilmon and frowned. She then knelt down next to him and grabbed Takato's Digivice. 

"…Ruki?" Jenrya asked, "What're you doing?"

Ruki pulled out a card and looked down at it. "No way of knowing if this'll work, but I might as well try." She then ran the card through, "_Card Slash, Seed of Health!_" 

Absolutely no response came from the device. Ruki sighed and slumped down, "That figures…"

Jenrya looked at his partner. "Could you stay with him for tonight, buddy?"

Terriermon immediately smiled and nodded. "Moumantai. I shouldn't have any problem handling that."

Culumon's ears grew slightly and he pointed to himself. "Culumon will stay and help too!"

Jenrya smiled and looked down at the little Digimon. "Thanks. I'll bring some food & water for him in the morning in case he improves some…" He looked at the now-pitiful looking Guilmon, "Poor guy… we can't really do much else to help right now… I mean, we can't exactly take him to the hospital…"

"Plus, it might not be a good idea to move him now anyway," Juri noted.

Ruki nodded. "Not much we can do now but wait…"

***

Ruki's eyes snapped open as she awoke. Her immediate reaction was feeling a need to scream out, but nothing would come forth from her mouth. She felt as if her voice was just… frozen…

Letting out a long breath, she sighed and pushed herself up. Almost immediately, Renamon appeared beside her. 

"What's wrong?" The fox questioned.

Ruki looked at her briefly, before lying back down. "Nothing."

"I hate to say this, but you're lying," Renamon said. 

The redhead groaned. "Why is everybody doing this to me today?"

"You can tell me anything, you know."

"I said it was _nothing_, Renamon…"

Renamon paused momentarily as she thought. "Is it about Takato and Guilmon?"

Ruki considered what she was going to say next for a few seconds. "…I don't really want to talk about all of this right now. Okay?"

Renamon closed her eyes and nodded. "If you say so, Ruki. Just remember what I told you."

That said, the fox once more vanished from sight.

The girl rolled over and looked up at the ceiling. _*Blasted nightmares… why is this trying to haunt me now?*_

***

"Jen-niichan!" The singsong voice of Jenrya's little sister Shuichon brought the boy out of his slumber. Blinking his gray eyes, he propped himself up with his elbows and looked to find her coming through the doorway. "Time to wake up!"

Jenrya yawned and threw his legs over the side of the bed. After getting his bearings, he began rubbing his eyes. "Good morning, Shuichon…"

The girl looked around the room for a moment before scratching her head. "…hey, where's Terriermon?"

Jenrya put a hand over his mouth to stifle another yawn. "Oh, he's at the-" He stopped suddenly and had the urge to hit himself. "…I left him at a friend's house… It was an accident."

Shuichon pouted as she looked back to him. "Jen-niichan! How could you do that? The poor thing must be lonely by now…"

Jenrya stood up and rubbed his head. "Heh, uh… sorry…" 

_*Don't know about lonely, but hungry is probably another matter…*_ He walked over to her and began shuffling her out of the room. "I'll be out in a minute, need to get dressed." ­ 

*_Then hit Dad up for some money… I knew I should've checked to see how much I had before offering to bring them food today… At least Dad should understand what I need it for if I tell him…*_

***

Jenrya approached Guilmon's house to find Terriermon and Culumon inside fast asleep, Culumon using one of the other Digimon's ears as a cushion. Guilmon meanwhile seemed much more relaxed than he did last night, but still not completely well. 

"Hey…" Jenrya whispered, kneeling down next to Terriermon and Culumon.  "Wake up." 

Terriermon opened his eyes wearily to see his partner. "Ah… 'Morning Jen…" He yawned. He then started to sit up and accidentally caused Culumon to roll off his ear and to the ground, waking him up. Jenrya chuckled slightly and held up a bag. "Here's some food & drinks guys. I'd like to stay longer but I have to make it to school, and-" 

Culumon floated up and stuck his head into the bag, cutting the Tamer off. "Mmm… yummy!"

Jenrya blinked and pulled Culumon out of the bag. "Hey now, be sure to save some for Terriermon too, and Guilmon as well if he wakes up…"

Terriermon looked around the relatively barren place and the remains of all the food that had been eaten. "It's amazing how Culumon eats so much yet isn't as fat as a BigMamemon by now… he's just as bad as Guilmon."

"You're not much better yourself, y'know," his partner replied.

Terriermon sweatdropped. "Hey, I'm not _that bad… am I?"_

Jenrya let out a small laugh before standing up "I've got to get going," He replied, bypassing Terriermon's question, "I'll see you guys this afternoon."

***

Though she usually thrived for the fight and thrill of battle, even Renamon felt the need to take a break once in awhile. While Ruki's mother, Rumiko, was at work, Ruki was at school, and her grandmother, Hata Seiko, was off in town, the fox figured now would be a good time to enjoy some peace and quiet. And she rarely ever stayed around the house when Ruki wasn't there. But the Digimon had recently discovered a book in Seiko's collection that caught her interest. So whenever Renamon had the opportunity- meaning whenever the eldest of the family was gone or sleeping -she liked to take the opportunity to look through it. 

Suddenly, Renamon tensed and dropped the book. She sighed and smacked her forehead lightly. "A Digital Field…"

Usually, they at least had the common courtesy to wait until Ruki was out of school. But this was a big one… 

After quickly hopping into the house to put the book back on it's shelf, Renamon teleported to the top of the building. _*Just when it was starting to get good, too,*_ she thought wistfully, and then started bounding from rooftop to rooftop.

***

Deep within the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building was a massive chamber, tinted in purple light. Within it was some of the most technologically advanced computer equipment known to man. All of it was for one purpose; to track the activity of everything digital that was connected to some type of network. Needless to say, this was one top-secret government organization that would severely enrage the public were it known to them. They could track everything from phone calls, to e-mails, to the specific time someone may have logged onto a web site and how long that someone may have been on that specific page.

But for the most part, this was not the kind of work this organization did. Hypnos did quite a bit more…

The head of it all was a blonde man named Yamaki Mitsuo. He sat in his chair, staring up and the sphere situated in the middle of the chamber. A countless number of wires was connected to it. Within that sphere was where Hypnos' two primary operators worked, and kept watch on the entire country…

The man clicked the lighter he constantly carried in his hand open and shut a couple of times. Soon it would be time for his masterpiece creation to be activated again… and then, everything would be over…

Alarms suddenly blared throughout the chamber, and Yamaki snapped to his feet, running up the stairs into the sphere. 

"Sir!" One of the operators, a blonde woman named Onodera Megumi shouted just as he entered. Within the sphere was a grid spread all around it that allowed them to track everything as they sat in two separate chairs that rotated around. "There's a disturbance in West Shinjuku Park!"

"A Wild One?" Yamaki asked.

"Unknown," The other operator, the red-headed Ootori Reika stated. "But it seems like something big is building… I just can't tell _what_ exactly, yet."

Yamaki scowled beneath his dark red sunglasses. "Keep an eye on it then. We're not going to let anything escape one of those fields again… Not after what happened when that horse broke free…"

***

Terriermon just stared as Culumon ate… and ate… and ate… "…where does all of that go…?"

Culumon glanced at him with a confused expression. "Culu…? My tummy, of course…"

Terriermon rubbed the side of his head. "But… your stomach is barely bigger than that bagel you're eating…" 

The smaller Digimon just shrugged and continued munching on the baked good.

Terriermon prepared to say something else before his ears shot up in the air and Guilmon stirred slightly in his sleep. "Oh, not now…"

Culumon groaned and held his head. "It's that funny feeling again…"

Terriermon stood up and headed for the gate. 

"Stay here," he stated before leaping to the top of the gate, then gliding away, using his ears to stay in the air.

Culumon frowned, looking at Guilmon, and then at where Terriermon had been. He looked back & forth for a few moments before his ears enlarged and he floated up. "I'll be right back, culu!" he shouted to the sleeping Guilmon before flying after Terriermon.

***

"I am not… amused…" Renamon grumbled as she leaned against a tree in the park.

Something suddenly fell down in front of her, but she didn't budge. It was just Terriermon hanging off a tree branch with his ears. "Hiya. You sensed it too, huh?"

Renamon slumped down against the tree, staring out in front of her. There was a large, paved clearing with a big fountain. "…yes, but there's nothing here. At all." She sighed deeply, tapping the side of her head. "I should have brought my book…"

Roughly an hour passed before they saw anything… and even then, it was only Jenrya walking out into the clearing. 

"…can I ask just what you two are doing?" Jenrya questioned as they approached them under the shade of the tree.

Terriermon, who was now sitting on the branch rather than hanging off of it, pointed. "There's a Digital Field out there."

Jenrya's gray eyes turned to the clearing. "What are you-"

Terriermon's ears shot up and Renamon's fur suddenly stood straight up. 

"OUT OF THE WAY!" cried the fox, tackling Jenrya to the ground as a thick fog suddenly exploded from the ground. And from that fog came flying a bright red beam of light, which promptly tore apart several trees behind them.

Jenrya pushed Renamon off of him and looked to the rear in horror. "Terriermon!"

"Yo!" a voice shouted and they both looked up to see Terriermon falling from the sky, apparently having leapt out of the way. Using his ears like parachutes, he floated down softly onto Jenrya's head while the Digital Field encompassed the entire area. As they all got to their feet, they saw their enemy…

Jenrya gulped, staring at the gigantic, cybernetic dinosaur that stood before them. He unclipped his Digivice from his pants and brought up its analyzer. "MetalTyrannomon, Perfect level, Cyborg Digimon. Attacks: Giga Destroyer II and Nuclear Laser."

Renamon clenched a fist as the beast reared its head back and roared. "Jenrya…  Much as I don't want to say this right now, I cannot battle something like this without Ruki."

"Then go," Jenrya stated, keeping his eyes locked onto MetalTyrannomon. He then gulped again and looked at her, smiling nervously. "Just hurry up, okay? I don't exactly want to become this guy's next meal either."

Renamon smirked slightly and nodded, vanishing from sight. 

"Alright, Terriermon," Jenrya said as his little partner leapt from atop his head. He drew out a card and held it up to his Digivice. "Lets do it! _CARD SLASH! SUPER EVOLUTION PLUG-IN S!!_"

"EVOLUTION_" 

"_Terriermon, evolve!_" In the little dog Digimon's place formed a bulky, more humanoid version of him with large machine guns for hands, and wearing blue jeans & a gun belt across his chest and back. "_GALGOMON!_"

***

"Sir, the Wild One has realized!" Reika cried down to her superior. "And there appears to be another one there as well… I think it's one of those children's Digimon…"

Yamaki clicked his lighter once before a sadistic look crossed his face. "Heh… Reika, Megumi! Prepare the Yuggoth System for activation! We'll wipe them all out in one clean sweep!"

Reika blinked behind her visor and stared down at the blonde man. The way he sounded was almost… crazed… "S-sir…"

"Delay that order Ootori, Onodera," another voice suddenly cut in. 

Everyone's gaze turned to the stairs, and they saw a man that looked at least ten years older than Yamaki leaning against the railing. His hair was short and black, but seemed to be going gray in some places. His name was Sano Shigeru, and he was one of Yamaki's superiors. However, he didn't meet with Yamaki much that Reika knew of… nor did he generally have much to do with the day-to-day operations of Hypnos. 

"Wh-what?!" Yamaki stammered. "What is the meaning of this?!"

Sano's beady black eyes looked around at the read-outs of this realization. "You heard me, Mitsuo… the order is not to be carried out."

"Under whose orders?!" Yamaki shouted.

"Mitsuo, what kind of a question is that?" Sano said, eyes narrowing. "_Mine._"

***

Deep within Takato's mind as he slept… The boy felt like crying out to release all of his anger and frustration, but he didn't have the ability to… 

Again, and again… he found himself confronted with the vision… the monster, now much clearer, beating and killing both Galgomon and Kyuubimon, repeatedly…

It wouldn't stop. Now matter how hard he TRIED, he couldn't stop it from happening… 

There were some new aspects of the vision. For one, everything was much clearer… he could see that the battle was happening in the park, right in front of the water fountain. He could also see the monster… it was clearly a MetalTyrannomon, which he recognized from the card game. 

Another new thing was how the air smelled…

It reeked of death. Something around here was dead, something had already died BEFORE Kyuubimon and Galgomon…

And lastly, there was Kyuubimon and Galgomon themselves. Though they were fighting valiantly, Takato noticed their bodies seemed to already be slowly deleting before MetalTyrannomon finished the job…

As the boy was forced to view this sight once more, and he sat curled up on the ground, trying to avoid seeing this again… he realized something. Just as Kyuubimon was disposed of once more, his tear-stained face jerked up. 

"Ruki… and Lee-kun… they're going to fight…" 

The entire world around him went completely dark as he figured out the meaning of all this.

"They're going to die…"

*** 

"Gatling Arm!" Galgomon cried, unleashing a flurry of bullets rapidly from his gun-hands. MetalTyrannomon merely roared and moved to cover his face from harm. 

As this attack was being carried out, Jenrya moved to find some cover behind a couple of trees. The last thing he needed to do was give MetalTyrannomon _another_ target and distract his partner. Of course, there was no way Galgomon could defeat this behemoth on his own…

 Jenrya shoved his hands in his pockets and pulled out a number of cards. "What could actually do any good here…?"

"WHOA!"

Galgomon's shout caused Jenrya to look in the direction of the battle again. The beast man had jumped into the air, avoiding a swipe from the cyborg's claw.

"Damn," Jenrya cursed. "Definitely no way he can beat that thing like this…" 

MetalTyrannomon snarled as Galgomon landed back on the ground. He raised his right claw and with another scream, launched a rocket out of it. Galgomon yelped, while Jenrya sent a card down his Digivice's slot. 

"_CARD SLASH! HIGH SPEED PLUG-IN H! HYPER SPEED!"_

Galgomon moved with super speed beneath the rocket. The missile soared into the ground and exploded, but its target was well out of harm's way now. 

"Lets see how you like it!!" Galgomon screamed, energy suddenly pulsating from one of his gun-hands. "DUM DUM UPPER!"

He leapt into the air, avoiding a swipe of MetalTyrannomon's claw, and slammed his energized fist into the creature's jaw. Galgomon grinned as he believed his opponent to be hurt, but he then screamed in pain as MetalTyrannomon's _other_ claw struck him.

"GALGOMON!" Jenrya shouted as his partner was sent crashing into the ground. 

"Culu?"

Jenrya screamed and nearly jumped away from his spot before he realized where the new sound had come from. Clutching his chest, he looked behind him to find Culumon. "Geez, nearly gave me a heart attack… and aren't you supposed to be with Guilmon?" As he looked back at the battle, however, he found MetalTyrannomon about to flatten his partner by stepping on him. 

But before Jenrya could say another word, a new voice caused him to sigh in relief.

"FOX FLAME DRAGON!"

A blue, flaming dragon suddenly slammed into MetalTyrannomon. With one foot already off the ground, the Perfect was caught off guard, and soon found himself slamming into the ground. 

"Kyuubimon! Ruki!" Jenrya shouted as he saw the nine-tailed fox and her Tamer. 

Galgomon picked himself off the ground, and then chuckled slightly as he saw Ruki. "Nice skirt."

Ruki, still in her school uniform, growled angrily as her violet eyes flared. "Why you sorry, ungrateful little-!"

"People, we have a situation here!!" Jenrya shouted. 

Ruki blinked and looked to see MetalTyrannomon getting back up, and looking none too pleased about being knocked off his feet like that. "Oh. Right."

***

Matsuda Mie sighed as she sat beside her son's hospital bed. She couldn't believe this was happening… she couldn't understand HOW it had happened. Takato had seemed perfectly healthy the day before. There was nothing wrong with him, though his mind did seemed to be focused on something else… 

Did she fail somehow, she wondered? It was her responsibility as a mother to care for his well-being, but she hadn't noticed anything… Was there something wrong that she just didn't see? She had felt for the past few months that Takato had been keeping things from her, but she didn't think it was anything severe… She had figured he was just being a boy, and becoming somewhat embarrassed towards how overprotective she was of him. Mie really wouldn't have blamed him for that… she understood what she was like…  And Takehiro often said she was silly for just _how_ overprotective she was. But… he was her only child…

"Takato…" she sighed, looking at her son again. "What _happened_ to you…?"

Suddenly the boy began to stir, and Mie jolted out of her seat in surprised. He seemed almost like he was struggling against… something. He was also trying so speak something, though it sounded rather incoherent to her. 

"Gui… Guil… GUILMON!"

As well, his heart rate had skyrocketed, as one of the machines indicated. 

Overprotective or not, Mie knew that this wasn't good… "Doctor!" she shouted, running to the door and throwing it open. "Someone get a doctor in here!"

***

With a start, Guilmon regained consciousness. He groaned as he lifted himself up… every fiber of his body hurt, but…

He heard Takato calling out to him… and he heard a battle raging outside…

The red reptile snarled, as the pupils of his yellow eyes became slits. "They're in trouble…"

***

"DEMON FIREBALL!"

"GATLING ARM!"

MetalTyrannomon growled in annoyance as the attacks pelted him. They really didn't seem to do much more _other_ than annoying him.

Ruki, who was squatting down near Jenrya and Culumon now, sighed. "This is getting nowhere…"

Jenrya nodded, and smirked as he saw her pulling a card out at the same time as him. "Ready?"

Ruki nodded, and they held their Digivices up. 

"_Card Slash!_"

"_OFFENSE PLUG-IN A!"_ Jenrya screamed.

"_SUPER CHARGER!_" Ruki cried.

 As they became empowered with the cards, both of the Adult Digimon rushed for their enemy, preparing both their Dum Dum Upper and Fox Flame Dragon attacks. However, as they started to execute them, MetalTyrannomon suddenly grabbed both out of the air with his claws. As Kyuubimon started to turn into blue flames anyway, and would have been able to escape his grip, MetalTyrannomon tossed the fox roughly into the ground. 

"Kyuubimon!" Ruki exclaimed.

MetalTyrannomon just roared once more, tossing Galgomon into the fountain. His eyes then scanned the grouping of trees before him, and he aimed his right claw at them. As red energy began to build up around it, Jenrya and Ruki started to move. "He's aiming at us…!" the boy shouted.

"RUKI!"

"JEN!"

The cries of Kyuubimon and Galgomon as they attempted to get up went unheard by the beast. And just as he started to fire… 

"_ROCK BREAKER!"_

A red streak suddenly collided with MetalTyrannomon's arm. Not expecting this to happen, his aim was thrown off, and the red beam that launched forth from his claw soared harmlessly into the air. 

All eyes then looked in surprise as they saw a red, reptilian Digimon drop down to the ground, growling loudly. 

"Guilmon!" Galgomon cried. "You're up! But… how…?"

Guilmon replied by slumping over, obviously having exhausted himself. Obviously enraged, MetalTyrannomon released a mighty yell and swung around, batting Guilmon away with his tail. The Child Digimon screamed in pain as he flew through a tree, and then out of sight from everyone else.

"Why you lousy…" Kyuubimon growled as she came back to her feet.  

"You're gonna pay for that!" Galgomon proclaimed, leveling his guns at the dinosaur.

With that, both of the Adult Digimon rushed towards their foe, ready to take him down, no matter what.

"Ta… Takato…" Guilmon groaned. He attempted to get up, despite his pain, which had increased greatly from MetalTyrannomon's blow… but it was futile. He couldn't find the strength within himself to move…

But he couldn't just let his friends be hurt… he knew what would happen if he did nothing…

"Takato… I can't do this without you… I… I need…" Tears began to well up in his eyes. "Takato, please… TAKATO!"

Culumon's big green eyes widened and he fell back, holding his head. "Culucululu…"

Jenrya and Ruki looked away from the battle, as it wasn't quite going very well, and they had yet to be able to come up with a card that could make a difference. "Culumon?" Ruki said. "What's wrong?"

"CULU!" Culumon screamed, as a bright red light erupted from the triangle on his forehead. 

"What the?!" Ruki shouted, jumping back. 

"Um, Ruki…?" Jenrya blinked, pointing behind her. "Your backpack's glowing."

Ruki took off the backpack. Indeed, one area seemed to be glowing red. Shoving her hand into it, she retrieved Takato's Digivice, which was shining brightly. "But how…"

"_Guilmon, evolve!_ _GROWMON!_" 

Ruki and Jenrya's heads jerked in the direction of the exclamation, and they now found Guilmon's adult to be standing around where he got tossed moments ago. Much larger than his Child form, Growmon basically resembled an older Guilmon with long white hair, two horns on his head, and a blade on each of his arms. And to put it mildly, the demon dragon did not look happy. 

MetalTyrannomon paused after avoiding some fireballs from Kyuubimon to stare at the newly evolved Digimon. Amazingly, the beast almost looked… nervous.

"You won't hurt them," Growmon snarled, "It won't come true…" The blades on his arms snapped out, crackling with energy. Then, with a scream of rage, Growmon rushed forward. "I WON'T LET IT!"

MetalTyrannomon unleashed multiple, small bursts of power from his right claw, but Growmon managed to avoid them all easily. Soon, the dragon neared his opponent and leapt into the air. The dinosaur attempted to block the incoming blow with his left claw, but Growmon managed to kick his arm out of the way. "_PLASMA BLADE!_" Growmon screamed as he slashed one of the cyborg's eyes. 

While Growmon fell back down, MetalTyrannomon screamed from the pain that had been inflicted upon him. Far from done yet, Growmon looked up and opened his mouth as flames generated in it. "EXHAUST FLAME!" The powerful stream of fire collided with MetalTyrannomon's chest and sent him stumbling back. 

"Kyuubimon! Galgomon!" Growmon barked as they took up positions at either side of him. "LETS GO!"

"Somebody's in a bossy mood all of a sudden," Galgomon smirked, aiming his guns. 

However, as each of them prepared to attack, Growmon began to glow with the primary color of Takato's Digivice. Soon, the same happened with Galgomon and Kyuubimon… in turn, the Digivices themselves started to shine. However, as they were so focused on their battle, the Digimon didn't seem to notice.

"What in the world is happening here?" Ruki questioned, staring down at the two Digivices in her hands.

"GATLING ARM!"

"DEMON FIREBALL!"

"EXHAUST FLAME!"

As the three attacks converged on MetalTyrannomon they swirled around together creating a multicolored pulse that tore through cyborg's chest and flew out the other end. The Digimon let out a scream before his body broke down into data and floated off into the sky until it couldn't be seen.

Jenrya and Ruki just stared at the sight with their mouths hanging open. Soon, the Digital Field began to vanish, and as it did so, Growmon chose then to sit down on the ground.

"Geez," Galgomon muttered. "What the heck got into you?"

Growmon gave a happy smile, his eyes having reverted to normal now. In this state, his expression was the same inoccent one Guilmon constantly had plastered on his face. "Takato said to come, since you were about to get hurt."

"Takato?" Jenrya questioned as he walked over with Ruki. Culumon had now also chosen to attach himself to his head. "But Takato's…"

"He was hurt, but he's all better now. He helped me before he got better, though," Growmon said smiling, but then adopted a confused look. "But where IS Takato…?"

 Jenrya chuckled a bit nervously. "Well…"

As Jenrya went on to try and explain what happened, Kyuubimon approached her Tamer. 

"Ruki?" she questioned, noticing that her partner looked troubled. "What is it?"

Ruki frowned. "I don't fully understand what's going on here… when Culumon's triangle glowed, Guilmon evolved. And then you three put on that light show… just what _was_ that?"

Kyuubimon shook her head. "I'm afraid I can't offer any explanation… it just… happened."

Ruki's eyes turned up to the sky. "Kyuubimon, I can't quite place why… but I suddenly have a very bad feeling…" 

***

"So you have no idea what happened to him?" Mie asked the doctor as they stood in Takato's room. 

"Not at all, to be honest," he stated, and then waved his hand to indicate the boy lying in his bed, wide-awake. "But he seems perfectly fine now."

"…does that mean I get to go home now?" Takato asked hopefully. 

The doctor smiled and shook his head. "Afraid not. I'm going to have to keep you here for the night, at least." He looked back to Mie. "If everything's fine by tomorrow, you can come to pick him up in the morning."

Mie bowed. "Thank you very much."

The doctor nodded. "It's no problem. I'll be sure that we keep an eye on him through the night." That said, he made his way out of the room. 

Mie turned her son and smiled slightly. "Takato… I… you really scared me there for awhile."

Takato rubbed the side of his head. "Sorry…"

She shook her head. "No, Takato, you didn't do anything, so there's no need to apologize. I'm just glad that you're all right." 

He smiled back at her and nodded. Then, as she went to use the phone that was placed in the room, he turned to stare out the window. _*Ruki… Lee-kun… Renamon… Terriermon… they're all right…*_

He didn't know HOW he knew that, but something within him said that everything was okay now… 

Takato let out one long breath. "Thanks, Guilmon…"

***

High above West Shinjuku, adopt a building, stood a figure. He was draped in a large, black cloak that allowed him to blend quite easily into the shadows. Held in one hand was a weapon, a large scythe. 

"_Does he awake?_" a voice asked, echoing within the being's head.

"He does, master," said the figure, "does this mean that we can act now?"

_"Yes… Just remember, take it one step at a time… I know you're anxious to get this done, but have patience…"_

"Of course…" The figure replied as the voice faded. He grinned beneath the cloak and gazed out at the city. "Soon… Very soon… Heh, it should be fun to see you again… naïve little fox…"

***

Reika stood within a hallway of the building, waiting. As she looked out a window, she could see night was quickly falling… And Yamaki had been inside the office Sano had dragged him into for well over half an hour. Something was wrong, she could tell… but she just couldn't tell _what_.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her, and she jerked around in surprise. She then sighed in relief when she saw it was only Yamaki. Concern very quickly replaced that relief though when she saw, even with his sunglasses on, that he had a very pained expression on his face.

"…what is it?" she asked.

He looked away from her and out the window. "I've been relieved of my duty."

Reika's eyes widened. "You've been what?! How can Sano do something like that?!"

Yamaki just turned and started to walk away. She grabbed his arm to stop him, but he didn't even look at her. "Do me a favor," he said, shrugging her off. "Leave me alone."

She watched as he walked away for a few moments before speaking again. "Ya-" she stopped herself, "Mitsuo, wait!"

He didn't reply, and only kept on walking.

**-End Chapter 01**

-------

Revision Notes: For this chapter, I didn't really want to change too much at first except for taking out the lone Hypnos scene in the original version and adding in a couple new, different ones. Naturally, that plan went out the window as soon as I started revising little things elsewhere… which eventually wound up making me rewrite a majority of the whole fic. Oh well, I think it really turned out better this way, and everything flows better, to me. Plus, I was able to establish a couple characters better with this revision, and I think I was able to portray Takato's vision in a clearer manner than before.

Overall, though, as I said, the revisions in this chapter are minor compared to some that'll come in later ones…

Otherwise… nothing else to say, really. ^^; 

Next: Chapter 02- "Muertemon: Messenger of Shadows & Death"


	2. Muertemon: Messenger of Shadows

**Disclaimer:** Bandai and Toei Animation own Digimon Tamers and its characters. The characters of Sano Shigeru, Sasaki Yoshihiro, Higashi Tomokazu, Muertemon, his boss, the other Soldiers of Death and certain plot concepts contained within this series, on the other hand, are mine. 

**Warning:** This chapter depicts one scene of violence that could be considered rather graphic. Keep this in mind, and don't say I didn't warn ya.

**Notes:** This chapter is shorter than I have been known to write in the past, and doesn't cover the entire revision of the original Silver Lining Chapter 2. So what the _hell_ am I doing posting it now? Simple. This is part of the new way I'm going to be going about my multi-chaptered stories. (Although I don't know if it will change my collaborations.)

You see, after some time, I've learned that writing really long chapters can get a bit tiring… it can burn you out for a series set to be as long as Silver Lining. By the time I'm finished with one long chapter… the urge to continue on isn't as great as it should be. It gets to become more of a chore than fun. I've been trying to figure out how to fix this for a while, and the answer wound up being pretty simple… Cut the chapter lengths down. And that's what I'm doing.

This doesn't mean the actual overall _story_ itself will be shorter, mind you. The plot that I would normally tell in one chapter will be split into two or three smaller chapters. 

So how is this supposed to help me? That's also simple. Doing it like this takes away a lot of the pressure I was feeling. I'll be able to get out more installments of the story with a greater frequency… just with less content in them. But how much I'm hoping it'll increase my production rate should more than make up for that. Doing this should also allow me to be able to focus on other stories, as well. There are a couple other fandoms I've been itching to write for, so this will give me the opportunity to do so, I hope.

Keep in mind that, for now, this is just an experiment. But I'm thinking it'll work out well. It may seem somewhat awkward in these first couple of chapters, but for now I'm just getting used to how I'm going to go about this. 

Oh, and this chapter's title has been slightly revised from what it was at the end of the last chapter. 

-------

Digimon Tamers

The Silver Lining

Chapter 02- "Muertemon: Messenger of Shadows"

By Infinity Blade

-------

Seeming to be little more than a creature of shadow, a figure jumped from rooftop to rooftop across Shinjuku. The black cloak he had wrapped around his body allowed him to blend into the darkness, and keep himself hidden from the naked eye. 

Soon, he would begin his master's plan… He alone would set into motion the events that would shape the future… The new age would be upon them.

This shadow just hoped he would be able to find what _he_ needed in the process…

_*My answer will soon be upon me,*_ he thought. _*But the only way to begin the search for that answer is finding _her_… We have to finish what we started. Only then will things be complete…*_

The creature of shadow stopped suddenly at the edge of a house's roof. He sensed something nearby…

A dark chuckle escaped his mouth. It was a digimon…

The being sped up his pace. He crossed multiple buildings in only a few jumps, only stopping briefly on each rooftop. Soon, he came to a stop in the middle of one roof. It was here…

Spinning around, the figure's eyes locked onto something that was behind him. Yes, it was definitely a digimon… It was large and muscular, with the face of a lion. Aside from that, he was quite humanoid, and wore nothing more than a pair of tattered jeans. Attached to his belt, also, was a sheath with a sword in it. 

"A Leomon," the shadow's demented voice said aloud. 

The Leomon's eyes examined this cloaked being. "…what are you?"

The figure gave an unseen grin beneath his hood. "Heh, that is correct… you cannot sense me like a normal digimon, can you?" 

The Leomon's only answer was for his hand to move slowly towards his sword's hilt. 

"Well, if that's the way you want to do things," the shadow laughed. "But if you want to know something about me before I beat you within an inch of your life…" A large scythe suddenly seemed to appear from the darkness in his hands. "I am a soldier searching for his place in the chaos that is our exsistance… but I am also one that knows that in the end, the only thing that will save us is destruction…" 

The lion man said nothing more. Instead, he drew his blade and lunged for his opponent. 

***

Takato groaned as he felt something trying to shake him awake from his slumber. Now that he was finally sleeping well again, he wasn't entirely willing to let anything take it away from him again. At last, he relented and allowed his eyes to open slightly…

At the blurry sight that was before him upon doing so, he closed them again. "I don't have any pretty nurses," he mumbled, now fairly certain what he had seen was just apart of his dream.

That was, at least, until he felt cold water splashing across his face. Sputtering, the boy shot up in his hospital bed, wiping the liquid from his face. "What the-?!"

He then turned and found a profusely flushed redhead standing there with an empty glass. "I'm not a nurse!"

"R- Ruki!" Takato exclaimed, now looking even more embarrassed than her. "I- I didn't know that was you!"

Ruki sighed, set the glass down on the tray she had picked it up from, and then took a breath as she attempted to regain her composure. "Here," she said, chucking a silver & red device in his direction. 

Takato barely caught the object and gave her a confused look. "My… Digivice?"

"Jen and I agreed that it would be best for one of us to watch over it while you were conked out," Ruki stated matter-of-factly. Her calm expression then turned somewhat quizzical. "Though, I guess it kind of bailed our hides out last night…"

Takato stared at her blankly before realization worked its way into his tired mind. "…so that's how Guilmon evolved against MetalTyrannomon…"

The girl's expression became downright confused at that statement. "Wait? How did you know that? Have you talked to Jen yet?"

He opened his mouth to say something, then stopped and shook his head. 

"Then how…"

He looked at her for a moment before averting his eyes. "Oh… right, um… yeah. Lee-kun called me last night… sorry. I'm just so tired that I… forgot…"

Ruki's violet eyes narrowed, obviously very unconvinced and likely thinking he was lying through his teeth. And he was, too.

"…whatever," Ruki sighed again. "I have to get to school." She turned to exit the hospital room, waving her hand briefly at him. "Later."

As the girl closed the door, Takato frowned and looked down at his Digivice. The threat of his vision was now over… but there was still one last thing remaining…

_*How _did_ I know all of that was going to happen…?*_

***

Yamaki was a cautious man, believe it or not. Despite the types of risks he was willing to take to get what he needed accomplished, he knew when something was dangerous or not right. And he was getting the distinct feeling that, indeed, something was not right here.

He presently stood in a parking garage beneath a building. He had received a phone call from Sano earlier this morning, telling the younger man to meet him here. Yamaki was suspicious about this… and with good reason, considering he had just been booted out of his position as head of Hypnos the day prior.

Yamaki began to involuntarily flip his lighter open & shut repeatedly in his agitation. He _needed_ to speak with Sano again, he knew this… after thinking on it, certain suspicions were rising in the man's mind… He needed to make sure whether or not he was correct. But something about this was making him nervous…

"You are Yamaki Mitsuo-san, I presume?" 

Yamaki spun around and saw five men standing in front of an elevator door as it closed. He had been so lost in his thoughts he hadn't even heard the elevator opening…

The former head of Hypnos eyed the men before him. He focused on the center one in particular, as he seemed to be in the lead as they approached him. "My name is Higashi Tomokazu. Sano asked me to meet with you."

Yamaki's eyes narrowed as he shoved the lighter back into his pocket. "I was told I would be meeting Sano himself."

Higashi smiled. It wasn't a warm or friendly one, though; it was quite cold. "I must apologize, but I don't believe that will be possible for you, Yamaki-san."

"Fine," Yamaki said, "then I have no business here."

As the other man began to turn away, Higashi spoke again. "I cannot allow you to do that…" 

Yamaki paused in mid-stride. "You can't, huh…?"

Higashi shook his head, making a motion to the other four men around him. "I'm afraid not. If I allow you to go, things could get quiet… chaotic."

"Chaotic, you say?" Yamaki questioned, moving his hand up slowly to his jacket.

"Indeed," Higashi replied. "You're not here to fight for you job. _We're_ here to figure out how to deal with the classified information you know of."

"And how do you propose to do this?" Yamaki asked, looking back at them.

Higashi's cold smile returned. "I think you know, Yamaki-san."

Yamaki slowly nodded before breaking into a sprint. The men surrounding Higashi suddenly pulled out guns armed with silencers and opened fire. Yamaki himself pulled out a handgun from under his jacket and fired blindly behind him. The shots went wide and he didn't hit anything, but it did cause his attackers to scatter. Despite this distraction, however, as Yamaki dove behind a car, he felt something strike his side. 

The man landed on the hard pavement with a grunt, but quickly pulled himself into a sitting position. As he did so, he felt an intense pain shooting from his side, and reached to feel it. After the pain increased from him touching it, he pulled his hand away to find blood on his fingertips. "Dammit…"

"You're only making this harder on yourself!" Higashi shouted. Yamaki heard the footsteps of his men moving around the parking garage. There was no chance in hell of him hiding here… 

The grip around his gun tightening, Yamaki took a deep breath, preparing for what he knew he had to do now…

Yamaki's thoughts were shattered, though, as a horrifying scream pierced the air. The other men screamed as well, in fear… Eyes wide, Yamaki looked out from behind the car… 

What he saw left him speechless.

Sticking through Higashi's back coming out of his chest was a blade. This blade belonged to a large scythe, wielded by a human-sized being draped in a long, black cloak. Higashi's men stared on in shock, unmoving. After a few moments had passed, the shadow creature yanked his weapon out of Higashi's body, allowing the man to fall to the ground, dead. 

The men looked at Higashi's body, and then at the cloaked man. They all quickly raised their firearms again and fired at him. However, the being didn't even move as each bullet hit him. He merely stood there and took it.

It was quite clear that this was no mere man.

As they continued to fire their silenced weapons, the being raised his scythe into the air. Almost faster than Yamaki could follow, he then dashed past each of them, cleaving into each their bodies with his blade. As the corpses dropped to the ground, the shadow became still.

"Yamaki Mitsuo," the voice of the shadow spoke, "I hope that you are well. However, do not think that this favor is just for your benefit, or out of the kindness of my own heart… I _fully_ intend to collect the debt you now owe me. However, for the moment… I think I shall leave you to think things over…" With that, he released a twisted cackle, and his body became nothing more than a black mist.

As the mist floated away, Yamaki gulped. He then looked at the dead bodies lying across the parking garage. Holstering his gun, he sighed. He didn't have much of a choice now…

He had to run.

***

"Just where do you think _you're_ going, young man?" Takato's mother, Mie, said as he stopped dead in his tracks in the Matsuda household's hallway. "You're supposed to be in bed!"

Takato laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. After Ruki left the hospital earlier, his mother had come and taken him home. "Um… well, school's almost out, and um… I figured I'd go see what work I'd have to make up for?"

"And you honestly expect me to believe that?"

"Well, it was worth a shot…"

Mie pointed to the stairs with a spoon she had been cooking with. "Bed. Go. _Now_."

"But Mom!" Takato protested. "I'm fine! The doctor even said so! And I'm going _nuts_ being cooped up inside all day… Please!" 

Mie just crossed her arms, continuing to give her boy a stern look.

"But I'll be with my friends… if anything happens, they can get help…"

"_Takato…_"

"Please…?"

"…you're not going to let up on me with this, are you?"

Takato shook his head. 

Mie gave an exasperated sigh.  "Alright, alright… but only if you actually _do_ check with your teacher about the work you missed."

_*D'oh!*_ Takato thought to himself, suddenly having the urge to slap himself across the head. "Okay, no problem."

The woman sighed again. "Stubborn. Just like your father…"

"I thought that Dad said you were the stubb-" Takato stopped his sentence with his mouth hanging open as he saw his mother's expression start to turn cross.

_*Open mouth, insert foot…*_ Takato thought, just as the door opened and his father stepped in. 

"Oh, hey there Takato-" the man began, but his son interrupted him.

"Hi Dad!" Takato exclaimed, dashing past him and out the door. "Bye Dad!"

Takehiro looked back behind him as Takato rushed off. "Wonder what that was about…" 

Before his parents were out of earshot, Takato knew that his father had discovered the expression on his mother's face. The last words he heard were, "Okay, what did I do now?"

***

The elevator doors to the parking garage opened and two men came running out. One was Sano Shigeru. The other was nearly half his age, a young man by the name of Sasaki Yoshihiro. He was an assistant to Sano, and a person looking to move up in the world, by whatever means that could get him there. They had been watching what was happening by way of a video camera up on a higher floor. However, the signal to that camera had gone out, just as they saw a cloaked figure appear and impale Higashi with his scythe.

As they saw the sigh before them, they came to an immediate halt.

"Oh… crap…" Sasaki groaned and covered his mouth as he stared at the bloodied, dead bodies before them. "I think I'm going to be sick…"

They had all been quite brutally killed. By the deep cuts in them, it was also quite obvious that the same person had done this. The first thought that came to Sano's mind, however, had nothing to do with these dead men. "Yamaki's gone…"

Sasaki waved his hand at what was in front of them. "And _this_?"

Sano frowned. "…get this cleaned up. We can't let this kind of thing leak out to the press." Sano looked at the bodies for a moment longer, and a small smile formed on his lips. "Wait, wait… on second thought…"

Elsewhere in the parking garage, crouched beneath a car was small, purple furred demon. He wore a red scarf & gloves, and had a smiley face on his chest. He also looked like he had been through hell, as he was quite injured. He was Impmon, and he had been resting in a sewer just below this garage. Upon hearing a commotion, he decided to come up and see what was happening… What he wound up seeing was quite shocking. 

_*That thing that killed those guys… that was some kind of digimon,*_ Impmon thought, _*but… there was somethin' _definitely_ not right with that bastard…*_

Impmon then winced as his stomach grumbled. _*Ah well. Nothin' to do with me… now I just gotta find me somethin' to eat before I starve to death…*_

***

Juri's expression was that of a frown as she strolled home through Shinjuku. Perched atop her head was the white furred little creature called Culumon, who had decided for whatever reason to follow the girl home from school today. He had been obviously curious about why she looked so sad, but she chose to just not talk about it. She _was_ thankful for his companionship, but… it couldn't get her mind off of her present problem…

_*Leomon…*_ she thought, releasing a small sigh. _*Why was I so foolish to think that _I_ could be a Tamer? I'm… not like Takato-kun, Ruki-chan, or Lee-kun… I'm not special… And why should I have expected him to want me as his Tamer? With the way I acted… I was such an…*_

"Juri?" 

Juri blinked and rolled her eyes up to look at Culumon.

"Please don't look so sad, culu…"

Juri knew the more she thought about things, the worse she was feeling… and her expression probably reflected that.

Culumon leapt off her head and floated in front of her. "Be happy, culu! Think about happy things!"

Juri, unfortunately, couldn't think about much in regards to that aside from Takato and Guilmon being well again… She had been happy to see the boy greeting all of his friends in the school yard that afternoon, though she hadn't stuck around long herself…

But, aside from that…

"I'm sorry, Culumon," she murmured. "I just don't think you can understand, fully…"

Culumon's ears drooped. "But… Juri…"

"Awww, isn't this just _so_ sweet?"

The sudden new voice sent a chill up the girl's spine, while Culumon's eyes widened in horror. He went screaming into her arms, burying his face in her chest. Gulping, Juri slowly turned around and found a cloaked being carrying a scythe.

Juri wanted to scream, but her fear at the sight of this… thing was so overwhelming that she couldn't even find her voice. Instinctively, she started to back away. 

The shadow creature seemed to look at Culumon for a moment. "It appears that my presence disturbs him…"

"What… what do you want…?"

"You," said the creature simply, his voice quite joyful at saying that.

"I ha- haven't done anything to you…"

"It is not what you have done," he chuckled, "it is what you _will_ do…"

Juri ran back against the wall of a building and gulped. She couldn't get away from him now… "Culumon," she mumbled, "go."

Culumon looked up at her. "But…"

"GO!" she cried, throwing him into the air. Culumon blinked and looked down at her, but after seeing the determined expression on her face, he nodded and flew off.

However, that determination soon faded as she looked back at the creature. "Who are you…?" she asked, fear filling every fiber of her being as he got closer. 

He laughed, reaching out and putting a hand to her cheek. "I am death." 

A pulse of black energy was then suddenly released from his palm, causing everything in Juri's world to go black…

***

"I'm glad to… see you… too… Guilmon!" Takato gasped as he stood in Guilmon's hut. "But can you let me… breathe?!"

The crimson reptile blinked and released his Tamer from his hug. "Sorry…"

As he was released, Takato accidentally dropped some work from his teacher that he had picked up from the school. Takato then laughed and rubbed his head. "Don't worry about it… I'm just happy you're alright too."

"Although he was out of it for a good while too," Hirokazu said from where he and Kenta stood behind them. "Guess that connection works both ways, eh?"

"Unfortunately…" Takato muttered under his breath, looking back at his partner. 

Guilmon looked around his home at the remains of the food Terriermon and Culumon had gone through. "…Takato, did you bring any bread…?"

Takato gulped hard. "Eh-heh… um, well… uh… you see…" The boy bowed his head and sighed. "No. Sorry. I was in a bit of a rush getting out of the house…"

Guilmon pouted in the direction of his Tamer. The boy frowned back at him. "…sorry Guilmon. I guess you're pretty hungry by now?" 

The lizard nodded rapidly in response. 

Takato shoved his hand into his pockets, retrieving a small amount of yen from them. He winced visibly at his low amount of money, but then smiled back at his partner. "Well, I guess I could go get you something."

Hirokazu grinned and stepped in front of the goggle boy. "Hey, let me go get it."

Takato stared at him for a moment. "…huh?"

"Let me go get the food for Guilmon. You should have some time to spend with your partner, right?"

"I don't know…"

"C'mon!" Hirokazu replied. "What do you think I'm gonna do with the money? Blow it on cards?"

"…do you want me to answer that?"

Hirokazu smacked his forehead. "Is it that hard to believe I'd want to do something nice for you?"

Takato sighed and forked over the money. "Just hurry back, okay?"

"Yeah, hurry back!" Guilmon exclaimed.

The visor-wearing boy just smiled and dashed off.

"…he's being awfully nice," Takato stated once he was out of range.

Kenta shrugged. "Well, he's been in a pretty good mood since you guys beat Indaramon…"

"Well, I guess I can understand that," Takato smiled, "we probably wouldn't have beat that Deva when we did without him…"

***

As Juri became conscious again, she found her vision blurred. The first thing she realized is that she was tied to something… She blinked repeatedly in an attempt to regain her sight…

But once she did, she wished that she had remained knocked out. 

Wherever she was seemed quite unnatural. There was red and black energy flowing around them, and there was this… feeling about the place that unnerved her. To make matters worse, the shadow creature that she had met now stood before her. 

The only reaction Juri could find to this was something she couldn't bring herself to do before. She screamed.

The creature chuckled at the sound. "You might not want to waste too much time doing that… you'll make yourself hoarse for no reason. Besides, no one can hear you… except for me. So if you _must_ continue, I won't complain… I find the sound to be quite beautiful…"

Juri stopped abruptly and began to look around wildly. She quickly discovered what was binding her; rope tied around a black pole. There were two other poles to either side of her, also, but nobody else on them…

"You see," the creature spoke, "we are not quite on a level of reality that most people in the Real World can recognize. But we're not in the Digital World, either. Since I still have a need to remain in this world, a… barrier has been set up so that no one can see us here. Even if they walk right past it… they can't see or hear us, unless they have a certain… sense about things, or if I allow them…"

The brown haired girl swallowed hard… as hard as it was to do so, she knew that she needed to _try_ and keep a cool head here… 

_*Takato-kun and the others wouldn't just sniffle and cry in front of this… thing…*_Juri thought to herself, and then spoke aloud. "What are you going to do with me?"

The monster chuckled. "You'd like to know that, wouldn't you…?"

Juri shuddered as multiple possibilities entered her mind, but she attempted not to pay much attention to them. "I… don't understand what you could want with me… I couldn't _do_ anything against you, or for you!"

Another laugh erupted from his mouth. "Really… is that so?" With a snap of his fingers, something appeared behind the creature…

Juri gasped. "LEOMON!"

Floating behind the shadow was the lion man, unconscious. Strands of black energy bound his arms and legs, and he had various cuts all along his body…

"You see, I met this fellow last night," the shadow creature explained gleefully, "but sadly, I'm not allowed to kill the poor bastard yet. A shame… he's quite strong, so I can't _wait_ to finish him off and load his data."

"What have you done to him?!" Juri exclaimed. "He doesn't deserve-"

"Now, now, my dear!" the cloaked one interjected. "He went on the offensive when I found him… he wanted a fight… so I brought it to him. Leomon is nothing more than the same kinds of digimon your friends have vaporized… all he wants is to fight and fight… to load more data and become stronger. Do you have any idea how many digimon your precious 'Leomon-sama' has killed just to satisfy his _own_ desire for strength?"

"H-how…"

"Oh, I know everything about you, and all of your friends, Katou Juri…"

The girl stared at Leomon for a moment longer, and then turned a harsh expression towards the shadow. "Leave him out of this! He has nothing to do with any-"

The shadow creature suddenly crossed the distance between them and clamped a hand over her mouth. "Please stop talking. It makes you sound stupid."

As fear returned to her eyes, he snickered. "Good girl…" His free hand glowed as he extended it, and a circle of skulls appeared in the air. "Day of The Dead!"

The skulls suddenly separated and surrounded Leomon. The eyes then lit up, releasing purple beams of energy. These beams barely touched the Adult digimon… But it was enough to jolt him awake and make him scream in pain. 

The shadow removed his hand from Juri's face. "_Now_ you can scream."

However, all the girl did was stare at her would-be partner with wide-eyed fear. Sighing, the creature waved his hand and the skulls moved their energy beams just a little bit closer, resulting in an even louder scream from the lion.

"LEOMON!! NO!"

The shadow cackled in response. "Yes, that's more like it… like I said, a most beautiful sound…"

And as the girl was focused on the welfare of Leomon, she didn't even notice the darkness flowing up from the ground and surrounding her…

***

"…come again?" Reika asked, staring across the purple tinted Hypnos chamber at Sano and his assistant, Sasaki. 

"_Reika!_" Megumi whispered sharply to her friend, whom she was next to. "He's not exactly the kind of guy we should be rude towards right now."

"You heard me, Ootori," Sano responded. "For the time being, I will be acting as Yamaki's replacement."

Reika's eyes narrowed and she began to step over in his direction. "Excuse me, _sir_, but why exactly are you-"

"Ootori," Sano cut her off, "I _do_ hope you know not to overstep your boundaries."

"And I hope you understand that the reason Yamaki was in charge here," Reika stated, "was because of his technical knowledge. He practically programmed most of this equipment himself. If you'll pardon me for saying so, sir-"

Sano interrupted her again. "I cannot hope to compare to whatever skill Yamaki may have had with these systems. Which is why I have Sasaki here," he said, patting the younger man on the shoulder, "because he too has good skill with technical equipment. Now, he may not be up to Yamaki's level…" Sano paused, smiling at Reika and Megumi, "but I'm sure we have plenty of people here who will help us figure everything out… correct?"

Reika's grit her teeth in frustration. She was getting tired of beating around the bush… "Why was Yamaki discharged from his position?"

Sano's smile widened. "Blunt, aren't we? Well, I'm sorry to tell you this… but that is classified information."

It was all Reika could do to restrain herself from stepping any further, or to press the issue to move. Spinning around on her heel, she began to walk back towards Megumi, muttering under her breath, "it's times like this I think I should have stayed in medical school…"

"However," Sano said, causing Reika to stop in her tracks, "that doesn't really matter anymore. We can't have a murderer running this operation, after all, can we?"

Reika's face went pale, and Megumi looked aghast. "Murderer?!"

Sano nodded, his face now deadly serious… but then just turned around, walking towards the chamber's exit. "If you want details, I suggest you take a look at the news," Sasaki said, addressing the two women, and then followed his superior.

Megumi walked over to her partner. "How can Yamaki have…" She paused, noticing the expression on Reika's face. "Hey," she said, placing a hand on the redhead's shoulder, "are you alright…?"

Reika gently shoved Megumi's hand away and began to walk away. "I… I think I need to go sit down…"

*** 

"Terriermon!" Shuichon called out as she wandered into Jenrya's room. The little girl knew that her big brother would be getting home any minute now… but she also knew he had forgotten to take his stuffed Terriermon to school today! He had to do some errands for their parents after school, too. Now would be the perfect opportunity for her to play with him before Jenrya got home… only Terriermon wasn't where she had last seen him that morning. "Mama must've moved him…" Shuichon frowned. 

_*Oh well!*_ she thought, _*I'll just have to go looking for him! Like hide and go seek!*_

She grinned to herself at the idea… but then found herself shivering. It suddenly felt like the temperature had dropped…

As Shuichon turned around, she saw a figure with a black cloaked wrapped around himself standing over her. Before she could scream, however, black mist rose up around her body and she found herself drifting off to sleep…

The black mist continued traveling throughout the apartment, seeking out the only other two within it. It crept up on Lee Jaarin as she sat in the living room, watching the television… While the teenage girl fell over as the mist put her to sleep, it slipped through the open doorway of the eldest Lee child, Rinchei…

The shadow creature exited Jenrya's room, carrying Shuichon over his shoulder. "My, my," he murmured, eyeing the girl's older siblings, "this is turning out _much_ easier than I thought it would be." He began to move once more, his free hand crackling with energy. "I wonder if the master would mind if I was to have a little bit of fun before finishing my task here…"

"_BLAZING FIRE!_"

The shadow growled as multiple small fireballs struck him. "Spoke too soon…"

Terriermon suddenly leapt into his view with a look of great anger upon his face. "Let her go!!"

The shadow creature scoffed and waved a hand, commanding the mist to surround the Child digimon. "Just go to sleep."

"PETIT TWISTER!" Terriermon exclaimed, spinning around and using his ears to create a whirlwind, which blew the mist away. As he came out of the twister, Terriermon lunged at the shadow. 

His enemy merely slapped him across the face with his free hand, sending the little bunny-dog into the wall. As Terriermon slumped down to the floor, the shadow growled. "Guess I have to be quicker than I-"

The apartment's front door chose that moment to swing open, and Lee Jenrya entered carrying groceries. "Hey, I-" the boy started, but stopped abruptly as he saw the sight. "SHUICHON!"

The shadow turned to face Jenrya as he dropped the grocery bags and rushed for the creature. However, as soon as the boy reached his sister's abductor… he vanished. 

Jenrya just stood there for a long moment, staring blankly at the spot his little sister and that thing had been in. "Shuichon…"

"Jen!" 

Jenrya broke out of his brief trance to look down at his partner. He had left his partner here to rest while he went to school, since he had been through a tough battle the day before. "Terriermon… wh-what…"

Terriermon stared down at the floor. "I was… hiding from Shuichon and waiting for you to get back home. Then I saw all of that black mist, and it knocked out Rinchei and Jaarin… then that… thing came out with Shuichon…" Terriermon balled up his little hands. "Jen… I'm sorry… I wasn't able to stop him…"

Jenrya shook his head. "No… it's okay…" He looked at his older sister lying on the couch. "Are they…"

"They just seem to be knocked out… and neither your mom or dad are back home yet." 

Jenrya released a long breath, obviously trying to collect his thoughts. He then dashed off into another room, and came running out carrying a cell phone. "C'mon!" he shouted, and Terriermon leapt onto his shoulders as he passed by.

"Takato-kun and the others went to the park," Jenrya said, closing the apartment's door behind him, "I just hope Ruki's at home…"

***

Hirokazu grinned as he walked along a sidewalk, carrying a small bag with him. "Heh, this should be enough to keep Guilmon happy for a little bit, at least…"

The visor-wearing boy had _definitely_ been in a good mood since the defeat of Indaramon. It was with _his_ help that Takato & MegaloGrowmon had been able to defeat the giant horse Deva. At the rate they had been going, Growmon, Kyuubimon, and Galgomon wouldn't have been able to hold up against that Perfect for very long, considering none of their attacks could faze him… those attacks that weren't thrown right back at them, at least. 

Not that Hirokazu was letting his fifteen minutes of fame go to his head. Too much, anyway. Whether or not he was able to help them, he still wasn't a Tamer…

However, Hirokazu's good mood was shattered seconds later. Dark mist shot up from the ground before him, and a humanoid, black-cloaked creature rose up, carrying a small girl over his shoulder. 

"Sorry," the shadow creature growled, "but I can't waste too much time right now."

Before the brown haired boy could open his mouth to say a word, the shadow creature grabbed his face and lifted him into the air. Shortly afterwards, Hirokazu had gone out like a light. 

***

Impmon stumbled out of an alley, clutching his side in pain. His emerald eyes darted around, searching for anything at all that could help him right now. To be exact, he was looking for food. He may have been injured, but he had no intention of starving himself to death.

Even if it seemed like his injuries would succeed in accomplishing that task. Impmon knew he couldn't worry about that now, though… he had to take it one step at a time. It wasn't like he could _do_ much about his injuries now, anyway. No, what he needed now was to fill his stomach… 

Soon, Impmon came across a construction site. There didn't seem to be a soul around it, however… Of course, it was starting to get late, so Impmon just figured the workers had gone home by now. However, the area itself wasn't what caught his attention… it was the vending machine sitting near it. 

Mouth watering, the little demon digimon ran to it and immediately sent his fist flying through the machine's glass. He snatched a number of the snacks from their holders and tore them open before shoving them greedily down his throat. After a few minutes of this, Impmon sat back and held his stomach, looking at the mess around him. This made him frown. He didn't really care about _making_ a mess, but the thought of what he'd look like to someone if they came along hit him right then… 

_*Damn,*_ he cursed mentally, _*am I pathetic or what…?*_

Now only being bothered by pain, rather than hunger, Impmon's head jerked up as he sensed something. "A digimon…"

In his present state, checking out a sense such as this would seem suicidal. But something inside made him get up to follow what he was feeling. He wandered away from the vending machine, and further into the construction site… and there he saw it.

Within what had been constructed thus far of a building was an area bathed completely in darkness… To his surprise, within it he saw three people bound to poles, a couple of which he knew were friends of the Tamers… also in there was a Leomon, and…

Impmon gasped, recognizing the cloaked figure from earlier. Upon seeing that frightening creature, he no longer had a desire to clean out the rest of the vending machine and quickly made his escape.

***

"…well, Hirokazu's sure taking his sweet time," Takato muttered, staring out of Guilmon's hut. 

"Fooood," Guilmon groaned. 

Takato chuckled slightly before squatting down next to his digimon. "Don't worry, if Hirokazu's not back in a few minutes, I'll go find a way to get you something to eat myself."

Guilmon's ears perked up and his face brightened. "Really??"

Takato smiled. "Yeah, I-" 

"CULUUUU!!"

Takato turned just in time for Culumon to come slamming into his chest, nearly knocking him over. "What the?!" he shouted. "Culumon?!"

"Cululululu," the little digimon whimpered, "Juri… Juri's…" 

"Culumon, calm down!" Takato replied, pulling the digimon off of him. He set him on the ground. "What about Katou-san?"

"He came, culu… he… he… CULU!"

Takato frowned, now becoming very worried… He opened his mouth to speak again, but suddenly felt strange… weak… he felt like he was going to fall over…

Everything around him was going dark…

_"I've been waiting for you…"_

Takato turned his head to find a cloaked figure standing behind him like a shadow. "Who…"

_"I am of what you are… heh. But I don't really expect you to understand that… for now, just call me Muertemon."_

"Muerte… mon…?" Takato asked. "You're a digimon?"

_"Indeed."_

"But how are you talking to me like this?"

Muertemon laughed. _"You'd like to know that, wouldn't you, kid? You really have no true understanding of your _actual_ powers, or how we are all connected, do you?"_

"Connected? How could I be connected to you…?"

Muertemon gave another chuckle. _"Tell me, Takato… do you ever feel angry? Do you ever feel like releasing that anger? Channeling it?"_

"What are you talking about…?"

_"Don't you ever feel that great, powerful kind of anger coming over you? Yes, you do… you have such a great power when you bring out that destructive side… that angry, vengeful, powerful side that you keep in check far too often…"_

"_What_ are you talking about?!" Takato screamed.

_"Yes, yes!"_ Muertemon said happily. _"That's it, Takato… you know exactly what I'm talking about!"_

"No I don't!"

_"That's a shame… such a shame…"_ Muertemon said, and then snapped his fingers. _"Hey! How about I try and jump-start it for you? Here, I'll show ya something I'm sure you'll get a kick out of…"_

"What…" Takato began as Muertemon waved a hand. What Takato saw next made his eyes widen with surprise and fear…

"KATOU-SAN!" Takato screamed as he shot up from the ground, now suddenly back in Guilmon's hut. "And Hirokazu! Shuichon!!"

"Takato…?" Kenta asked. Takato looked down to see he had apparently knocked the other boy to the ground. "What was that about? You just spaced out for a minute… and what are you screaming about?"

"Katou-san… Hirokazu… and Lee-kun's little sister…" Takato huffed, his breathing having become much heavier all of a sudden, "Muertemon has them…"

"Muertemon?" Guilmon blinked. "Takato, what are you talking about…?"

"He's got them… he's captured them…"

"TAKATO-KUN!"

Takato spun around and found Ruki, Jenrya, and Terriermon, riding on his partner's shoulder, running up to them. Renamon, though, was absent for some reason. The boy clenched his fists tightly… there was no need to wonder what they were here for.

***

"Damn them…" Yamaki snarled as he leaned against a building's wall deep within an alley. He touched the wound beneath his blood-soiled clothes briefly and winced. The pain was getting worse… He had been moving carefully through the city for more hours than he cared to count… He couldn't let any of Sano's men find him again, so he couldn't go to a hospital or anything like that. _Especially_ after hearing what he did on a radio he had passed by an hour ago. "Wanted for murder… how dare they… after everything I've done…"

"It really _is_ a shame what they've done to you," a voice said suddenly. Startled, Yamaki turned to see something that hadn't been there a few seconds ago… the creature that had killed Higashi and his men.

"You lousy son of a bitch!" Yamaki roared, drawing his gun from beneath his jacket and aiming it at the thing's head. He knew very well that bullets wouldn't hurt the creature, and he only had a few shots left, but his anger was clouding his judgment for the moment.

"My, my… how ungrateful you are…"

"Ungrateful?" Yamaki replied. "You murdered five men. I am now _wanted_ for those murders. And you call me _ungrateful_?!"

"Can you honestly tell me, Yamaki, that you wouldn't have killed those men so you would have survived? They were about to kill you. I saved your life. You _owe_ me. Plus, what do you think you're going to do with that weapon… besides attract the attention of the local authorities?"

Yamaki's brow furrowed, but he lowered his gun. At his point, he had nothing to lose by just _listening _to this monster… "What do you want from me?"

"Glad you asked," the cloaked figure said. "First of all, my name is Muertemon. Now… you are no longer in command of your organization."

"Tell me something I don't know. My patience is wearing thin enough, just get to the point."

"Fine, fine," Muertemon said, raising his hands. "Now… there are those with a desire to gain control of your organization… You see, what you have constructed with Hypnos is, really, nothing short of the ultimate weapon… to my kind, at least. You have no true understanding of how deep your meddling with my world could reach… The real consequences of your Shaggai system's effects are very far reaching… or they could be. So, I have a question for you … Have you by chance been approached by anyone… or anything… before you got the boot?"

"What are you…" Yamaki started, but stopped as he realized what Muertemon was talking about. 

At his surprised expression, Muertemon laughed. "You catch on quick. You see, in the end, we're quite similar Yamaki… we both want the survival of our worlds. But there are those that want nothing but _complete_ destruction… Chaos. We could help each other, Yamaki… we have common enemies. There is no need for us to make foes of each other…"

"You don't say…?" Yamaki asked. "What do _you_ want, then?"

"Simple. All I want is information…"

"About Hypnos?"

"All for defensive purposes, you understand…"

Yamaki chuckled bitterly. "Yeah, I understand…"

The man's arm suddenly shot up and he was aiming his firearm at Muertemon's head again. 

"I understand that I'll see you in hell."

**-End Chapter 2**

--------

**Revision Notes: **I notice the more and more I work on these revisions, the more they become almost unrecognizable from the original story. This chapter was overhauled WAY more than the first one was… and I'm not even finished yet! All that was kept except for the basic premise of Muertemon nabbing people (and even THAT was changed somewhat) was a couple of lines I rather liked. 

But overall, I hope that once I get into the swing of things with using this new format, it'll work out well. ^^ The only negative effect it has on _this_ chapter, I think, is it's now Renamon-less… oh well. I'll make up for that in the next one. ;P

**Next:** Chapter 03- "The Soldier of Death"


	3. Soldier of Death

**Disclaimer: **All canon characters and concepts are the property of Bandai, Toei Animation, Akiyoshi Hongo… you know the drill. Everything else is mine.

-------

Digimon Tamers

The Silver Lining

Chapter 03- "The Soldier of Death"

By Infinity Blade

-------

"You'll see me in hell?" Muertemon asked. "My, that's rather harsh… really, what do you expect to do to me, Yamaki? Tickle me to death with that gun?"

Yamaki smirked. "Don't be stupid. Everything has a weakness."

"Heh, that may be so…" Muertemon replied. "But the question is if you can find it. Besides that…"

"Yeah, I'd be 'alerting the local authorities," Yamaki said. "However, I'd rather take my chances with them…"

Not wanting to waste another moment, Yamaki aimed for the demon's head and fired. Unfortunately, just as he did so, Muertemon dodged it and flipped over his head. Before Yamaki could react, Muertemon grabbed him by the back of the neck, squeezing tightly.

"Moron," the warrior spat, and black mist swept up around them.

Moments later, a nearby police officer ran into the alley, alerted by the gunshot sound. 

Yet when he reached the area, there was nobody there… 

***

Takato, Kenta, Culumon, and Guilmon watched as Ruki, Jenrya, and Terriermon approached them. "Takato-kun!" Jenrya started as he neared. "Shuichon's-!"

"Been captured," Takato said, a growl developing in his voice. 

Jenrya and Ruki came to a stop. "How did you…" the blue haired boy began. 

"Katou-san and Hirokazu are with her," Takato replied, balling his fists up. "He… he taunted me with them…"

"Takato, what are you talking about?" Ruki asked.

"Muertemon," Takato said, and then suddenly broke into a run towards the nearby stairs. "Guilmon, c'mon!!" The red reptile nodded and dashed after his partner. Culumon squealed and floated after them, quickly taking a seat on Guilmon's head. 

"Hey, wait a minute!" Kenta cried as Jenrya and Ruki turned to follow the enraged Tamer. 

Takato stopped abruptly, but didn't turn around. "Stay here."

"Hey, Katou and Hirokazu are my friends too!" Kenta responded. "You can't just-"

"_Stay. Here._"

"But," Kenta continued, "I can't just let you guys-"

"You can't do anything to help," Takato muttered. 

"But Takato…" Kenta said, his tone making it evident he was surprised at the way his friend was talking, "I-"

"_Stay here!_" Takato screamed, turning his head around to look at the green haired boy. "I don't want you to get in the way!"

Kenta just appeared to freeze completely, obviously surprised at Takato's actions. Takato just continued down the stairs.

"Listen," Ruki said as Jenrya ran after Takato, "he's right, even if he has a horribly bad way of putting it. You could easily get hurt."

"Y- yeah…" Kenta muttered, "just go… he's right, I'll just get in the way…"

Takato, Jenrya, and Terriermon had been at the bottom of the stairs, awaiting the other Tamer. As Takato heard her footsteps approach, he began speaking again. "What are you waiting for?"

"Takato," Guilmon said before Ruki could speak, "are you alright…?"

Takato shook his head. "Not until I'm sure the others are okay…"

"Anyone ever tell you that you have poor tact, Takato?" Ruki asked coolly.

Takato looked away from her. He seemed almost ashamed of himself now. "I… I just don't want there to be a chance of anyone else being hurt…" He sighed and started to walk. "But come on… We can't waste any time…"__

***

"Crap, crap, crap," Impmon growled as he slumped down beside a dumpster, staring at the ground. He had put a fair amount of distance between himself and the construction site, but after seeing that digimon again, he couldn't help but feel nervous. Something about that thing made him uneasy… but he didn't know _why._ However, it felt like he _should_ know…

This was his second time seeing that creature in _one day_. That was too much to be coincidence… But it's not like Impmon had been _searching_ for him! Yet he had found him twice without even trying…

"Well now," a strong, female voice said suddenly, "I had been wondering where you were."

Impmon looked up to find a tall, humanoid fox digimon standing right in front of him. 

"GYAH!" was about all Impmon could exclaim as his reflexes told him to jump back. Unfortunately, this only made him bang his head on the dumpster. Impmon let out a howl of pain and grabbed the back of his head. "Geez! Don't y'know not to sneak up on people like that?! IT GIVES THEM HEART ATTACKS!"

"Hmph," Renamon replied. "Gratitude is not a trait you show very often, is it, Impmon?"

"Gratitude?!" the small demon shouted, glancing up at her. "What the hell for?!" She remained silent, and he thought back to the last time he had seen the fox… 

It was the battle with Indaramon.

Impmon scoffed and turned his head so he didn't have to look at her. "I didn't ask for your help."

"…you're still hurt, I see," Renamon said, not really responding to his comment. 

"And what's it to you?"

Renamon went silent again, once more failing to give a proper response. After a moment, Impmon sighed. "Listen, if you're here just to throw that crap back in my face, leave me alone…"

"Impmon…" Renamon started slowly. He faced her again to see that she was now kneeling down, putting them at basically the same level. "I need to know something. Have you by chance seen a creature, most likely a digimon, wearing a black cloak anywhere in the city? He has kidnapped the younger sister of Jenrya, Terriermon's Tamer."

Impmon's mouth opened, but nothing came out. _She_ was the third kid that thing had!

Renamon sighed and started to stand back up. "Nevermind, I'll just-"

"Wait!" Impmon exclaimed suddenly. "W-wait… I… know exactly where that thing took her…" Renamon's eyes widened, and the smaller digimon continued. "The construction site near here. You'll find 'em there… He also has a couple others… that goofy kid with the visor and the girl with the sock puppet…"

Renamon just stared at him for a bit, obviously surprised with him being so forthcoming with such information, and in such a subdued manner. Though she may have also been a bit surprised that this thing had captured even _more_ people the Tamers knew. She then did something that surprised him greatly; she smiled. Only slightly, but it was more than he was used to. 

"Thank you, Impmon," she said, but her smile soon faded. "Are you going to be alright?"

Impmon forced a grin. "Heh, oh, I'm fine. Don't tell me you're actually worried."

Renamon stood upright fully and crossed her arms. "I merely thought I owed it to you to ask," she said calmly, and then blinked out of sight. 

Once she was gone, Impmon sighed and resumed viewing the concrete beneath him. _*Yeah, I'm going to be just fine,*_ he thought. _*Too bad I can't make myself believe that bull.*_

***

Unnerving Ruki was an incredibly difficult thing to do. She had faced down countless digimon, rarely batting an eye, no matter how fearsome they may have been. If anything, digimon had more reason to be scared of _her_ than she of them. 

However, something felt… wrong all of a sudden. Not just because of Shuichon, Hirokazu, and Juri disappearing… it was something else. Something she couldn't pinpoint… and that fact alone made her feel uneasy.

Her traveling companions weren't really making things any easier. Jenrya's anger seemed barely restrained, and he had been that way since she met up with him that day. The only thing that seemed to be keeping him from blowing up was Terriermon assuring the boy that things would be okay.

Takato, on the other hand, was a completely different story. He was so… quiet. Now, Takato _was_ a quiet boy, but the sense she was getting from him was different from everything she knew about him… 

If Guilmon felt something was wrong with his partner, however, he chose not to say anything about it. Instead, he did as Takato requested, trying to find the scent of their missing friends while they traveled through Shinjuku. 

Culumon, likewise, was completely quiet, merely riding on Takato's head. He looked to be quiet apprehensive over the prospect of seeing that creature again…

"We're getting nowhere fast," Jenrya said with frustration. "Maybe if we-"

"We shouldn't split up…" Takato muttered. 

"Takato, we can all take care of ourselves if we run into anything," Jenrya stated. "All we're doing is walking around in circles, and we have no idea if we're even _close_ to finding them or not. There's no way that we can possibly search this entire city in just one group."

Takato stopped and stared at the ground. "I… felt that monster, Muertemon… I felt what kind of power he had… I felt so many horrible things just as he spoke to me… None of us can fight that thing alone…"

"Of course," Terriermon said, "we can't fight him if we can't find him…"

"Which shouldn't be a problem," a voice suddenly spoke as Renamon appeared in the middle of the group. None of them acted surprised by her appearance, as they were all pretty used to her teleportation by now.

"You mean you found them??" Guilmon asked hopefully. 

She gave a small nod in reply.

"Alright!" Jenrya exclaimed. "Lets get going!"

"You guys _do_ realize," Ruki finally spoke up, "that we're very likely running right into a trap, don't you?"

Takato nodded slowly. "Yeah… but do we have much of a choice?"

As everyone already knew the answer to that question, they traveled the rest of the way silently with Renamon leading them.

***

One of the foremost things in Hirokazu's mind right now is that he almost wished he never had even heard the word "digimon" in his life. The boy had been brought back to consciousness by the very loud sound of a little girl crying. It was then he discovered himself, Juri, and said little girl tied to poles, and that they were being watched over by what appeared to be the Grim Reaper. Of course, there was also the fact that Leomon was being tortured by floating skulls that shot laser beams out of their eyes. And the blonde man that was there for some reason, lying on the floor next to the Reaper unconscious. 

Hirokazu looked over to Juri, who was keeping her head bowed and her eyes shut so she didn't have to look at Leomon. Of course, his screams could still be heard. This was definitely getting to her, as Hirokazu could see tears seeping out from beneath her eyelids. 

The younger girl continued having the only natural reaction to this situation for one her age. She seemed quite scared out of her mind, and was still bawling. 

Hirokazu's eyes darted back to their cloaked captor. "You're a sick freak, you know that, right?"

The Grim Reaper-wannabe cackled and began to stride over to the boy. "Why, thank you. Glad to see that you're awake now… but please, call me Muertemon."

"What the hell do you want with us?!" Hirokazu shouted back at him.

"Oh, simply to reduce your mental state to a quivering mess," Muertemon stated gleefully. "As you can see, this was quite easy for your friends, and made getting what I need from their minds _quite_ easy…"

Hirokazu considered his words as Muertemon neared him, and then smirked. "Somehow, I don't think you're gonna get me to cry, buddy." 

The demon chuckled lightly. "Maybe. But there are other ways to get what is needed…" 

He suddenly shot out a hand and grabbed Hirokazu by his brown hair, and then proceeded to slam his head into the pole behind him. As Hirokazu screamed in pain, Juri and the young girl both looked over in their direction. 

"Hirokazu-kun!" Juri shouted.

"I'd like to say this is going to hurt me more than it would you," Muertemon said, pulling his other fist back. "But I'd be lying, because this is going to hurt you like hell!"

***

The Digimon Tamers had arrived at the location that Renamon said had been specified by Impmon. Upon their first look at the place, it was quite obvious that the information was correct…  It was a construction site covered in what looked to be an _extremely_ twisted version of a Digital Field. Rather than thick, gray fog, it was surrounded by streaking black and red energy. It covered the area in such a way that it was made difficult to tell that it even _was_ a construction site for a few minutes.

Just looking at it was starting to make them all sick to their stomachs. 

"Well, there's no doubt about it," Jenrya said. "This is the place…"

Renamon's eyes narrowed. "Indeed, but when I checked on it before after getting the information from Impmon, the barrier was not as… intense as this. I could actually see your sister and friends then, as well…"

Ruki bent down, scooping a rock into her hand. She tossed it up and down for a moment, looking at the distance between them and the barrier, and then tossed it across the way with all her might. Upon nearing the barrier, power streaked out and blew the rocked into dust.

Culumon shrieked, falling off of Takato's head and into Ruki's arms. 

"Weird," Terriermon muttered. "Why would he practically invite us here through Takato, but make it so hard to get to him?"

"Either he's hoping we'll rush blindly in and get ourselves killed," Jenrya replied, "or he wants to make it seem too easy, and thus make it seem more like a trap so we may not expect something else right after we get past it..."

"Even though it _is_ a trap, obviously," Takato sighed, stuffing a hand into his pocket and retrieving a card. "Well guys?"

Jenrya nodded and pulled out the same card. "Ready when you are."

Ruki looked down at the frightened Culumon, sighed, and placed the little digimon on her head. She then pulled out a card herself and nodded. "Right. Lets give this a shot."

_"CARD SLASH! SUPER EVOLUTION PLUG-IN S!"_

"_Terriermon, evolve! GALGOMON!"_

_"Renamon, evolve! KYUUBIMON!"_

_"Guilmon, evolve! GROWMON!!"_

The three Adult digimon stepped up in front of their Tamers.

"I really do hate rushing into things like this with no idea what I'm getting into," Kyuubimon muttered.

Galgomon smirked. "Yeah, I'm _sure_ you do."

Kyuubimon shot him a glare, but Growmon just snarled. 

"It doesn't matter… he has our friends…"

The other two digimon nodded in reply and readied their attacks.

"DEMON FIREBALL!"

"GATLING ARM!"

"EXHAUST FLAME!!"

The three attacks flew out in unison and moved so fast that the barrier didn't have the time to defend itself. With surprising ease, the barrage of fire and bullets punched through the barrier, leaving a rather wide hole in it.

"Oh yeah, this is _way_ too easy," Ruki grumbled.

The others nodded in agreement, but nonetheless, all dashed for the newly formed entrance. Energy streaked out from the remaining parts of the barrier, but they were easily deflected by the digimon's attacks.  Upon coming through the entrance, however, it immediately closed up behind them.

Galgomon looked back and sighed. "Yep…"

"Trap," Jenrya finished for him. 

The Tamers barely had the chance to register the state of their friends before them, or even Leomon, before a bolt of energy for everyone but Culumon came down and struck them. As Culumon was tossed away due to the force of the blow, the others found themselves forced to the ground and stuck there as the energy continued to pulse down, holding them in place.

"JEN-NIICHAN!"

"Takato-kun! Ruki-chan!"

The Tamers strained to look up, taking in the situation in front of them. Though they could see that Juri and Shuichon were, physically, fine, their attention focused on Hirokazu, who Muertemon was standing by. The brown-haired boy was bleeding from both his mouth and the top of his head, and looked as if he had just suffered a rather nasty beating. Then there was also Leomon, hanging in the air and bleeding from several places. 

Jenrya tried to get up, but was forced down even harder by the energy. He screamed as he hit the ground and Muertemon laughed. 

"Might not want to do that, buddy," the demon said, "unless you want to shatter every bone in your body."

"…bastard…" Jenrya growled, but could barely get it out due to the extra force being placed upon his body.

"Now then," Muertemon said, reaching up to lower his hood. As he pulled it down, they all finally got a good look at his face; it was little more than a skull with two red, jewel-like eyes. Despite having a skull for a face, with no skin or muscles, he could still somehow express emotions, as his grin suddenly became a frown. "You know what? You guys _really_ disappointed me. I never thought it would be this easy…"

He bowed his head and sighed, seeming almost genuinely sad about this fact for a moment… before his smile returned and he clapped his hands together. "Oh well! All's well that ends well, right?"

Takato stared at him with an immensely hateful look. "What-"

"-do I want with you," Muertemon finished for him. "Man, if I had loaded an Ultimate digimon every time I've been asked that lately, I wouldn't even _need_ to do this…"

The cloaked digimon then strolled past someone the Tamers hadn't noticed before; a certain blonde man that they _definitely_ recognized, who was lying unconscious on the floor. 

"You're… really pushing your luck…"

Muertemon paused and looked down at the man. "Ah, Yamaki… took you long enough to wake up."

Yamaki groaned as he started to get up. He then froze in shock as he saw the situation around him, and the state of the children and digimon. "You're sick…"

"Says the man who wants to commit a mass genocide upon my race," Muertemon said, "now _that_, my friend, is sick."

 Yamaki growled as he got back to his feet. "I don't know what you're trying to do, but if you think you can get me to allow you access to Shaggai after seeing this, you're nuts."

Muertemon chuckled. "Oh, I don't _need_ your cooperation, it just would have made things easier on you." That said, he raised a hand and a black wave of energy suddenly washed over Yamaki, knocking him back and to the ground. As the man hit the ground and cried out in pain, the demon digimon continued. "All I need is for you to be alive."

He looked over to Hirokazu, Juri, and Shuichon. "Of course, as I am done with these guys, they're an entirely different matter…"

"Leave them alone!" Ruki screamed.

"Shui… chon…" Jenrya gasped, now barely able to breath.

Muertemon shook his head and held out a hand. Black mist shot out of his palm and formed into a solid object; a giant scythe. "I'm sorry, I can't quite do that. You see, I have what I need from them. If I were to allow them to live any longer, I could very well be put at a disadvantage… but don't worry, you'll be soon enough." He glanced over at Culumon cowering in a corner. "It was also so nice of you to bring me a present, too…"

"Don't you dare touch them…" Takato hissed. "Or… or else…"

"'Or else', what?" Muertemon questioned, and then eyed the injured Hirokazu. "Might as well take care of the dead weight first… …heh, heh. Dead weight…"

Takato stared at Hirokazu, then Juri and Shuichon… Leomon… the other Tamers, the digimon… even Yamaki… "Don't… you can't… I'll… I'll… _NO!!_"

With Takato's scream, power burst from his Digivice and started to flow around his body. Muertemon looked at him, but seeing as nothing else was happening other than that, started to dismiss it…

Until he saw Growmon's body also take on a glow… It covered his body for a moment before flowing straight to his eyes. His golden eyes quickly became little more than flaming orbs in his head and he released a mighty roar, rising up against the power keeping him down. 

"You won't… hurt them…" Growmon snarled, and suddenly leaping to his feet. The energy wave restraining him was suddenly obliterated by the power radiating from him, much to Muertemon's surprise. The power from Takato's body released itself immediately afterwards, destroying what was holding him as well.

The demon dragon hunched over and bared his fangs. "I won't let you…"

Muertemon, and most everyone else, for that matter, just stared at the Tamer and digimon. After a moment, Muertemon chuckled and turned to face them. "Of course, this works too…"

Takato rose to his feet, his Digivice still blazing red. His face held a look of intense anger, something which looked completely unnatural on this usually kind-hearted boy. 

"What in the world…" Ruki gasped.

"Takato-kun…?" Juri mumbled, wide-eyed.

"What the hell…?" Yamaki muttered as he lay on the floor, clutching his side.

"Growmon," Takato commanded, gripping his Digivice tightly. "DESTROY HIM!"

The dragon roared and rushed towards his opponent. Muertemon's amused expression didn't change, even with Growmon moving at such an incredible speed. Once the Adult reached him, Muertemon barely dodged away as Growmon sent his claw streaking down for him. 

Missing him, Growmon buried his claw in the ground. The demon warrior took this opportunity and leapt up, kicking his foe in the head. As Growmon stumbled back, Takato did the same, holding the side of his head. His other hand, however, he swiped through the air, an action which Growmon followed. 

Muertemon let out a howl of pain as Growmon's claw struck him in the back and slammed him into the ground. Not wasting any time, Growmon then unleashed a massive wave of fire from his mouth. 

Muertemon looked up to see the flames coming for him. "Day of The Dead!" he cried, and the circle of skulls quickly formed into a makeshift shield before him. The shield deflected the flames, and the demon grinned. "FIRE!"

Beams launched from each of the skulls and blew through the fire, striking Growmon in the chest. This sent him flying over Muertemon's captives and into several steel girders. As this happened, Takato fell back and hit the concrete hard.

"Well then," Muertemon said, waving a hand and commanding the skulls to vanish. "Where was I…" 

The demon trailed off as he saw that Shuichon was no longer tied to her pole. A quick look around found the young girl instead hiding _behind_ it. The source of this was easily found, as he saw Culumon trying to untie Juri's bonds. 

"That little bastard's smarter than I thought," Muertemon growled, "but it won't make a difference." 

_"CARD SLASH! WHITE WINGS!"_

Muertemon's head jerked up and he found Growmon shooting up into the air. The demon dragon then dropped down, kicking Muertemon away from his captive friends. 

The demonic warrior flew back, but landed on his feet, barely keeping his balance. Growmon didn't seem ready to give him time to recover, though, as he snapped the blade on his right arm out and channeled power into it. 

_"PLASMA BLADE!"_ Takato and Growmon screamed in unison, and the dragon unleashed an unnaturally large wave of energy from the blade. 

Muertemon barely reacted in time and flipped over the energy blade. He laughed once he hit the ground. "Hah! You missed!"

Growmon, however, just grinned. His eyes lost their glow, although he retained a feral look. Muertemon didn't quite understand what had just happened until he looked behind him. 

The energy blade crashed through the power restraining the other Tamers and their partners, freeing all four of them. Muertemon gawked at the sight briefly before slapping his head. "Shit…"

Growmon looked to see his friends getting away, with Juri basically being forced to drag Hirokazu along. Seeing that they were safe, for the moment, he looked straight up. "EXHAUST FLAME!"

A mighty wave of flame scorched through the air until it collided with the top of the energy field surrounding them. For a moment, nothing happened.

Then, with the sound of a large pane of glass shattering, the entire field collapsed and vanished, as did the things within the field created by the same power. The poles that had once held Hirokazu, Juri, and Shuichon blew apart, and with nothing holding him up, Leomon's body dropped to the ground. Upon seeing the lion man fall, Juri immediately started heading in his direction. 

Muertemon cursed softly as he watched the children escape. He wanted so badly to finish his job here and now… but doing so at this point wouldn't be easy. "I must say, you're smarter than you look," the warrior said, glaring at Growmon, "or act…"

"Hey, don't forget about us!" Galgomon shouted from behind the scythe-wielding digimon. 

"Oh, yay!" Muertemon mock-cheered. "Well. Guess the rest of this plan is screwed."

The cloaked demon slammed his scythe's pole into the ground with great force that sent him flying into the air. Taking aim at Juri, Hirokazu, Shuichon, and Culumon as they made their way to Leomon, his scythe's blade became pitch black. "DARK EXECUTION!" A black wave of force that took the form of multiple blades with varying size went flying in their direction. 

Growmon's eyes went wide and without a moment's hesitation he flung himself in the path of the attack. As it struck him, his and Takato's united scream filled the air. The boy was tossed back, barely caught by Jenrya. The digimon, on the other hand, was not as lucky as he was pounded into the ground, crushing the earth below him. As the dust cleared, they could see Guilmon, rather than Growmon, lying in the dirt unconscious. 

Muertemon snarled in frustration as gravity took over and his metal boots slammed into the ground. "Damned idiots always have to play the hero…"

"DUM DUM UPPER!" 

 Muertemon turned on his heel and brought up his scythe, barely blocking Galgomon's charged punch with it. The demon warrior kicked up, drilling his foot into the furry digimon's chest. Galgomon's attack immediately cut off as he found himself rocketing upwards. Muertemon followed him up and smacked the Adult with the flat of his scythe's blade. 

Galgomon's body slammed into the ground with great force. Jenrya, who was busy holding up Takato, suddenly cringed and nearly lost his grip on the other boy. "Jen?" Ruki asked, glancing over at him.

"I'm… fine," he said in a strained voice. He then looked back to Takato, who was now all of a sudden shivering. "Takato…?"

Takato held his eyes shut tightly for a few moments, and then relaxed and let out a long breath. It was just then that they realized he hadn't been breathing for a few seconds. "That… guy… he's not normal… not at all…"

Muertemon swept his cloak back around him as he watched Galgomon try to painfully get back up. "Don't even bother… I am a Perfect Level, and one of the highest ranking and most loyal soldiers to the great Lord Asmodeusmon. You can't even hope to compare if you're just going to fight like this…"

"Lord… Asmodeusmon…?" Galgomon muttered, and then slumped down, glowing and devolving to Terriermon.

"_Card Slash! Meramon!_"

"FOX FLAME DRAGON!"

Muertemon looked behind himself and grinned, seeing Kyuubimon's attack now forming into a red-hot stream of flame. "Yes now… come on… DAY OF THE DEAD!"

The skulls flew out around the flame dragon, and each fired a beam at one specific spot. Seconds later, a scream came from it and the dragon vanished. Kyuubimon appeared in its place and fell over, while Ruki gasped and dropped to one knee, clutching her chest. 

"Well, well, well…" Muertemon said happily as he strolled over to her. "What have we here? If it isn't little Renamon…"

Kyuubimon stared at him as he approached, and attempted to get back to her feet. He just laughed and smacked her leg out from under her with his scythe's pole. "What? Don't you recognize me?"

The gaze she gave him was like ice. "I think I would remember something as ugly as that face."

"Aww, I'm hurt. Really, I am… but I've certainly remembered you, naïve little fox…"

Her eyes widened with realization and he smiled darkly, squatting down to put the two of them nearly at eye level. "You… how…"

"Oh, it wasn't that hard," Muertemon said. "All I had to do was… find the right employer. But why should we talk about me? You're _so_ much more interesting…" He grabbed her face roughly and lifted it up. "You were so strong back then, Renamon, even only at your Child Level. Not just in your physical strength and abilities, either, but your character… such a loner. With such a swift, merciless way toward your enemies… But now… what the hell happened to you?"

Muertemon looked over at the Tamers; specifically, Ruki.  "To associate with a human such as you do… to be led around by a 'Tamer' like her little pet, listening to her bark orders at you… You may have great power in battle, but that is not _your_ power. You are merely fooling yourself if you think so…"

"You're wrong," Kyuubimon snarled. "That power is _our_ power. I am not Ruki's pet. I am her-"

"Friend? Don't make me laugh… but do you want to know why I came here to do this?"

"Not particularly."

"You," he said gleefully, squeezing her face so hard he threatened to crush it. "To… repay you. To finish what we never did in the past…"

Kyuubimon's expression didn't flinch. "And what about you? You said that your power came from your 'employer'… so how does that make you any better than me? If anything, you're as much of a sniveling little cowards as your _ever_ were, kidnapping inoccent children that have no place in this whole mess!"

"Heh, maybe you're right," Muertemon said, releasing her and standing up. "Of course, I never said I was better than you… no, I never said that… But my dear, do me one favor…" His face turned dead serious.

"_Do not question things that you have no comprehension of!!_" he cried, slamming his metal-clad foot into her gut and sending her sliding across the ground. "You have no clue what you have gotten involved in… you've only signed your death warrant… where is the peace in your soul _now_?!"

"Kyuubimon!" Ruki shouted. "What on Earth is he talking about?!"

"Yes, Kyuubimon!" Muertemon mocked in a high-pitched voice. "What is he talking about?!"

With Muertemon's attention now focused on Kyuubimon, he seemed to momentarily be forgetting about his former captives. They were now by Leomon, who was completely still aside from his breathing. 

"Leomon…" Juri murmured.

"…looking at him, I suddenly think I should be feeling fresh as a daisy…" Hirokazu groaned.

"Hirokazu-kun!" Juri exclaimed, shooting him a look. "You're awake… thank goodness…"

He nodded weakly and pushed himself away from her. "Thanks…"

An explosion erupted behind them and they looked to see Kyuubimon flying into the air. Shuichon squealed and suddenly clung to Juri. The older girl looked down to see her trembling with her eyes shut tightly. "Hirokazu-kun…" she mumbled, "can you walk?"

Hirokazu blinked, and then tried to stand up. He succeeded, although he wavered a bit and almost looked like he was about to fall over. "Uh… yeah. Why?"

"Get her over to the others, and out of here if you can," Juri stated, still staring down at the younger child. "She's… just a little kid, she shouldn't have to see all of this…" 

"…and you?"

Juri looked at Leomon. "I can't just leave him alone…" 

"…got it," Hirokazu said after a moment and kneeled down next to them. Juri could tell he was pained to do this, but he did it regardless. He took Shuichon's arm gently and tugged her away from Juri. "C'mon kid."

"But-" Shuichon began, sniffling. 

"Just c'mon," he said, pulling her along as he broke into an unsteady run towards Jenrya and Ruki.

"Culu!" Culumon exclaimed, floating up onto Juri's head.

Juri looked up at him. "You're staying?" 

Culumon nodded. "Of course, culu!"

As fate would have it, though, Muertemon chose then to spin around and notice the fleeing humans. "Hey, who wants to take bets on whether or not I can hit a moving target?!"

Juri's expression hardened. "No!"

Muertemon paused and looked at her. "Excuse me?"

The brown-haired girl stood up. "Don't hurt them…"

"Oh, really, and what are you going to do to stop me?"

"You…" her voice started to tremble, but her expression didn't change, "can take me…"

"Katou-san!" Takato exclaimed, but Jenrya and Ruki both clamped hands on his shoulders to keep him from doing anything stupid. They all looked to their partners, but none of them looked in any condition to do anything. 

"Culumon," she said, "just go…"

The small digimon just shook his head silently.

If she kept Muertemon distracted for just a few moments longer, there could be a chance for one of the digimon to recover and make sure that no one else was hurt…

Muertemon eyed her. "Well… can't say I'm too picky. And I'll just take out your lion friend while I'm at it…"

Juri's eyes widened and looked down at Leomon. "No… wait…"

"Then I'd suggest you move out of the way, little lady," Muertemon beamed and dashed towards her. 

Juri continued to look at Leomon, and then back to Muertemon, her expression more determined. "No, you won't…"

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice!" Muertemon cried, raising his scythe above his head as he neared her. 

Juri closed her eyes, bracing herself for what was to come… but it never did, as the sound of a gunshot was heard and Muertemon fell back, clutching his right eye. Everyone followed the sound of the gunshot and saw Yamaki kneeling on the ground with his firearm raised. 

"Everything has a weak spot… Just have to know… where to aim…" he grinned before slumping back to the ground. 

 Muertemon removed his hand, revealing his jeweled eye to be shattered. "Asshole… I'm going to slit your throat when I'm done with you!"

Juri's breathing became frantic as she saw Muertemon turn back to her. "Now, kid… lets finish this."

Those words had barely left his mouth before something leapt out from behind Juri and tackled Muertemon to the ground.

It was Leomon.

Battered, bloodied, and bruised, it appeared he had regained consciousness without the others noticing. As he pinned the surprised Muertemon down, Leomon looked back at Juri. "RUN!"

Juri stood there, looking dumbstruck, until she shook her head. "No… I won't just leave you behind…"

"Katou, come on!" Hirokazu shouted, as he and Shuichon had momentarily stopped their retreat. "Leomon can take care of himself!"

"Get… the hell… OFF!" Muertemon screamed, kicking Leomon away from him. 

"Leomon!" Juri shouted, running over to the lion as he landed.

Muertemon snarled as he scrambled to his feet, raising his curved blade. "Will both of you just freaking _die_ already?! DARK EXECUTION!"

"Look out, culu!" the little creature on Juri's head cried. Juri turned just in time to see the dark blades rushing for her. Before she even had the chance to scream, a bright light suddenly appeared before her, and the blades vanished into nothing.

"What the-?!" Muertemon howled. 

The light formed into a small orb and floated down to Juri's hand, then forming into a small, silver and yellow device. Light from the device washed over Juri and Leomon, and as it faded, the lion man's injuries were completely gone. 

Leomon pushed himself up with one large arm and looked over his body. "How…?"

"She has a Digivice…?" Jenrya questioned, his mouth hanging open.

"Katou-san's a Tamer?!" Takato exclaimed. 

"I- I- I-" Juri stammered, not being able to form many words at the moment. 

Ruki just grinned, pulling out a card from her pouch. "Alright… Kyuubimon!" 

The nine-tailed fox hefted herself up, now having had the time to recover some. "Right!"

"Lets-" Ruki began, but paused as she saw the card glow blue. Her grin widened. "GO! _Card Slash! MATRIX EVOLUTION!"_

Golden light illuminated from Kyuubimon's form. _"Kyuubimon, EVOLVE!"_ Her body became humanoid and was draped in white robes and a pair of purple pants. A yin-yang symbol appeared on her chest, and she dropped down, her deadly gaze directed right for Muertemon. _"TAOMON!"_

Without a moment's hesitation, Taomon lunged forward, drawing out a large comb from one of her long sleeves. She swung it at her foe, but he blocked with his blade.

"That's an… interesting weapon you have there, my dear," Muertemon said, obviously having to keep himself from laughing.

Taomon just glared and vanished into thin air. Due to now being totally blind in his right eye, he wasn't able to defend himself as Taomon's foot smashed into that side of his face. As he stumbled, she disarmed him of his scythe with her comb. The weapon vanished as soon as it left his grip, and she pulled the comb back into her sleeve. 

"Now, lets finish this," she growled, rising into the air and drawing a large brush out of her other sleeve. With it, she wrote glowing blue a symbol into the air. "BUDDHIST BRUSH BRANDISH!"

The symbol shot out and plastered itself on Muertemon's chest. The demon warrior screamed at the top of his lungs, dropping to the ground and clutching his chest. "Damn you… Renamon… you'll regret this… If it's the last thing I do, you'll regret this!!"

And as they saw the data of his body begin to break up, Muertemon vanished from their sight, leaving only a bit of black mist where he once was.

Everyone just stared for a long moment, before a smile appeared on Jenrya's face. "Ruki… you beat him…"

"JEN-NIICHAN!" Shuichon cried, nearly knocking her brother over as she ran over and hugged him tightly. 

"Shuichon…" he muttered, and then dropped down to his knees, hugging her back. "Shuichon… I'm so glad you're alright. I was so worried about you…"

"Whoa there!" Ruki shouted, barely catching Hirokazu as he started to fall over. "Geez. What did that freak _do_ to you?"

"Hit me in the head a few times," Hirokazu replied. "…I think it was a few times. I sorta blacked out pretty quickly…"

"Maybe we should get you to a hospital," Takato suggested. 

"Nah, I'm fine," Hirokazu said. "Explaining it to Mom and Dad's gonna be hard though…"

Takato sighed and stared out over the area. Juri and Leomon both still seemed quite shocked in regards to the appearance of her Digivice. Guilmon and Terriermon were both back on their feet now, and walking over to their Tamers. However, someone was missing… "Hey, guys… where did-" he took a second to remember the name Muertemon had mentioned, "-Yamaki go?"

Ruki blinked and looked around. "Huh… beats me. He didn't vanish with Muertemon…"

"Never would have expected him to help, though," Jenrya said. 

Takato nodded silently. He had saved Juri's life… 

The goggle boy shivered slightly as a cold wind blew through. He could still remember what it felt like when Growmon had been hit with Muertemon's attack… and he knew, as did the others, that he was far from finished with them…

***

In a dark alley, Muertemon was kneeling down for a glowing figure before him. "Thank you, my lord, for saving me."

The figure waved a hand. "I could not afford for my most loyal servant to die, after all. Although influence on that world is limited, and it took a lot out of me to rescue you from death… You cannot expect me to do it again anytime soon. You'll have to be careful."

He nodded. "Sire, I am afraid I was not able to kill any of them," Muertemon said in a resigned tone.

"I am aware of this."

His master's tone was unreadable. "I apologize greatly for this," the warrior stated, "but I am sure you are aware by now that I drew what you needed from Shiota, Katou, and the young Lee's minds…" 

The figure nodded. "However, little Juri has bonded with Leomon, giving us yet another foe…"

Muertemon cringed visibly. "I am sorry, sir." He then grinned. "However, there is a failsafe already prepared for our dear little friend."

"Ah, so you bonded that with her…"

Muertemon nodded again. "She was too concerned with Leomon's safety to notice it when it happened. Sadly, time did not permit it the chance to rise up and latch onto Shiota and young Lee…"

"It is no matter," his master replied, "what is done is done… You have served me well, Muertemon, and you achieved your primary objective. Now, however, you must plan to complete the task… Makino, Matsuda, and the elder Lee's power must be accessed."

"Of course, Master."

"I am prepared to send any back-up you may need, as they are proving to be more formidable at this point than even I suspected…"

"But Master," Muertemon said, "you cannot risk alerting the Holy Beasts or Devas to your presence yet. If you do…"

His master chuckled. "Of course. Of course… One, then. I will send one when the time is needed…" He paused. "Oh, and I apologize for your eye. I am afraid I cannot repair it properly…"

Muertemon shook his head. "It is no matter, sir. I will manage, and take this injury proudly as part of my service to you… and I will pay that filthy human back dearly, once I am finished with him…"

His master nodded. "Good. Now rest, Muertemon… you only have a little work left to do."

With that, the glowing image vanished. 

"Of course, Lord Asmodeusmon."

***

 Ootori Reika sat on the couch in her living room, staring blankly at the television. If asked later what she had been watching, she wouldn't be able to answer, as her mind was elsewhere… 

_*Mitsuo couldn't have killed those people,*_ Reika said. _*Not in the way that's being suggested, anyway… maybe in self defense… but…*_

Reika knew Yamaki to be many things, but he wasn't a murderer…

…was he? Reika suddenly covered her ears as she recalled the screams of the digimon being dragged into the Shaggai Hole, though she knew it wouldn't block the sound coming from her mind… Those screams still haunted her… the thought of their bodies destroyed…

Killed.

Shaggai was Yamaki's creation. It was his desire to rid this world of these creatures that posed such a danger to it… 

There was only one way that Yamaki saw to accomplish this.

Kill them.

Reika shivered. Could he truly be capable of killing other humans in cold blood, though? It just didn't seem possible to her… She had known Yamaki for a long time now… 

_*I love him,*_ she thought to herself. _*Even if it's something we've kept from our coworkers…although I barely ever even sleep in my own apartment anymore…*_

She thought she knew him, but as she thought back to everything that she had seen recently… the madness he had displayed at times… the cold, calculating way he planned to eradicate all of the digimon's lives…

A soft knock at the door suddenly tore her from her thoughts and caused he to leap into the air. She put a hand to her chest and took a few seconds to get her breathing under control, and then got up. 

But what she saw there was the last thing she had expected.

"Mi- Mitsuo!" she gasped in a small voice.

"Hi…" he greeted in a pained voice, and then promptly collapsed inside her apartment.

**-End Chapter 03**

**---**

**Revision Notes:** This chapter completes the revision of the original SL Chapter 2. I basically changed… well, everything. Plot gets to the same points; Impmon informs the Tamers of where the captives are, Juri & Leomon are bonded, Taomon beats Muertemon, and Mitsuo shows up on Reika's doorstep. No plot changes yet, but they're coming up soon.  

**Other Notes: **Hey, don't you just love school? Finishing up my last year of high school stuff has put a bit of a damper on how much I've been writing. So, sorry about that. Things are lightening up now, so I'm going to try my best to write more.

Not much else to really say, so I won't ramble needlessly this time. 

Constructive criticism is accepted and encouraged, flames will be mocked. Y'know, the usual. 

**Next: Chapter 04- "Beasts"**


	4. Beasts

**Disclaimer: **Digimon Tamers is the property of Akiyoshi Hongo, Bandai, and Toei Animation. The original characters contained within this story, on the other hand, are mine.  

----

Digimon Tamers

The Silver Lining

Chapter 04- "Beasts"

By Infinity Blade

----

Jenrya leaned up against the wall of the Lee household's computer room, staring across it at his father, who was seated at his desk. Janyuu, a middle aged man with glasses whose hair was beginning to dull in color, had his hands clasped together, staring out a nearby window. From the reflection that Jenrya could see on the glass, the man was quite visibly shaken. 

"How is she…?"

Jenrya's gray eyes turned down to look at the floor. "As well as could be expected, I guess… I didn't want to wake the others, so I just let her into my room. Terriermon's with her… but I figured that you would be here awake still."

The blue-haired boy balled his hand into a fist and hit the wall with it. "I'm sorry, Dad… if only I had-"

"From what you've told me, there was nothing you could do to stop that thing from taking Shuichon," Janyuu sighed. Though he was upset this had happened, he had shown no anger so far. "No more than you could stop your other friends from being taken… you can't blame yourself for something you had no control over. Just be glad that you were able to get them back…"

"I… I guess," Jenrya muttered, and looked back up as his father turned around in his chair. 

"Jenrya," Janyuu began, "what all do you know about this thing? This… Muertemon?"

Jenrya could only shrug a little. "Not very much… I know that he's powerful. Though not more powerful than Taomon… or maybe she just caught him off guard… I don't know. He also serves someone named 'Asmodeusmon'. I've never heard of a digimon called that, however… of course, I've also never heard of a 'Muertemon'." He paused for a second. "He got blinded in one eye during the battle, which is what helped us win. That's what gave Taomon the opportunity to hit him with her attack… and it's what saved Katou-san's life…"

"…how did he go blind in that eye?"

Jenrya pushed himself off the wall and scratched his head. "Well, in the past, Takato-kun, Ruki, and I have met this government guy who seems to have some sort of interest in the digimon. For some reason, Muertemon also captured him. But he had a gun, and shot Muertemon in the eye when he was about to kill Katou-san and Leomon."

"…what is his name, out of curiosity?"

"Yamaki."

Janyuu's face suddenly seemed to lose color.

"…Dad?"

Janyuu blinked a couple of times. "Oh… I see…"

Jenrya gave him a slightly odd look, and then continued. "Of course, since he _is_ blind in one eye, that might give us an advantage next time we face him… Taomon's attack usually kills instantly, but I'm pretty sure we haven't heard the last of this guy, for some reason…"

"Jenrya, I don't want you looking for a fight with this thing. You take on more than you should as it is."

The boy looked away from him. He knew his father was well aware of their encounters with the Devas… "Well, if we don't, there's not much else that will… except for Yamaki's organization."

Jenrya could hear his father mutter something beneath his breath about that, but couldn't make it out. "What was that?"

"Nothing, son, nothing," Janyuu mumbled, rising up out of his chair. "I'm going to go check on Shuichon…"

"I wouldn't do that," a small voice piped up, and they saw Terriermon shuffling in through the doorway. "She just got to sleep."

"…oh," Janyuu replied in a disappointed tone, and slumped back down to the chair, turning to face his test. He let out a long breath and propped up his head with his hands. "Jenrya… you're certain this Muertemon will come after you again?"

Jenrya nodded slowly. "And… and Shuichon. He wants everyone he captured dead…" His voice quivered at the end of that sentence as that thought was processed through his mind.

"Shuichon can't protect herself like you can…" Janyuu said, his voice now trembling as the full realization of the danger seemed to hit him. "Not even _I_ can protect myself as well as you can, much less her… Please, Jenrya. Terriermon. Keep watch over her, and don't let her out of your sight more than you have to… I know it's a lot to ask-"

"Nah, it isn't," Terriermon grinned, hopping up to Jenrya's shoulders. "We're used to dealing with maniacs by now. We'll get him next time, won't we Jen?"

Jenrya nodded again. "Right. Don't worry, Dad. We won't let anything happen to her. You have our word."

***

Juri stepped quietly out of her family's house into the small alley behind it. After getting home, she had explained her absence to her father by saying she was over at a friend's house and forgot to call. Though not pleased, he had bought it. She _hated_ having to lie to him… but she really couldn't do much more than that right now.

"Leomon?" she said quietly into the darkness.

"I'm right here."

She turned quickly and clamped a hand over her mouth to keep from yelping. "H- hi," she stammered as she removed her hand. "You're still here…"

"Of course I am," he replied. She could make out a slight smile on his face from the limited moonlight that was cast on the path.

"But," she murmured, holding up her Digivice to look at it, "you didn't want to be my partner before… so why-"

"Well, look where that got me," Leomon said grimly. "I owe you my life, Juri. You tried to protect me even when you didn't have the power to do so, and your power healed me. The only way I can think of to repay you is to make sure that you are protected. Besides that… for too long, I have had no purpose besides doing battle and to become stronger… maybe, with you, I can have a greater purpose than just that."

Juri was glad that it was dark right then, as she knew she was likely blushing right now. "Th- thanks," she smiled, but that soon vanished as she recalled something. "When… Muertemon captured me, he said that you fought and killed constantly just to become stronger…"

Leomon bowed his head. "Though he may be a creature of darkness, he is right on that account. But that is the law of the Digital World. You must fight and load your opponent's data, or die yourself. There is rarely any in-between. It is something that all digimon must do."

"I see…" 

Leomon looked back up. "But I could never say it was something I am proud of."

Juri started to smile again. "…um, Leomon… are you hungry or anything? I figured I should ask before I go to bed…"

Leomon blinked and put a large hand to his stomach. "Well, now that you mention it… yes."

She grinned. "Okay, stay right there, and I'll be right back."

As she quietly shuffled off into the house, Juri's smile didn't leave her face. She was suddenly feeling much better than she had been in days…

***

Guilmon usually didn't think much. He just didn't generally have to. He was a creature that relied on instinct. His instinct told him when to eat and when he needed to sleep. It told him that he could trust people like the Tamers and their friends, and that he could have fun playing with them. The moment any of his friends were in danger, however, his battle instinct took him over and he charged to defend them. 

Trying to think about what his chances were against a foe would only put him at a disadvantage. He couldn't be bothered to think about something like that. He had confidence he would always win, somehow.

He had Takato with him, after all.

Now, however, as the red reptile sat at the doorway of his hut, munching on a loaf of bread and staring up at the stars, he found his mind drifting. He actually couldn't _help_ but start to think in light of everything that had happened over the past few days.

On their way back from the battle, Takato had remained quiet. He made sure to pick up the school books that were left at Guilmon's house, and said a quick goodnight to his partner.

Something was very wrong… Guilmon's instincts told him this much. Something just wasn't right with Takato… he just wasn't fully himself. When they were fighting Muertemon, and Takato's rage had erupted, Guilmon had felt it. His anger, his pain… the overriding bloodlust that took him over as his raw power surged out.

Yet, despite the fact that Guilmon had at times felt this sort of rage by himself, the way it happened in that fight actually _scared_ him. There was something just not _right_ about it. But Guilmon just couldn't figure out _what_.

The digimon sighed and set his half-eaten loaf of bread down. "I wish I was smart like Takato or Renamon or Terriermon…"

There was also Muertemon. That creature disturbed Guilmon down to his very core. The Devas were a cause for worry, and it was something all of them worried about constantly. Yet he never felt the kind of cruel, sadistic darkness coming off of them like he did Muertemon. 

Guilmon closed his eyes and laid back. He was now starting to realize just _why_ his instincts told him not to think much…

***

Ruki stared aimlessly up into the air as lay in her room. She just couldn't sleep… too much was on her mind. 

Renamon _knew_ Muertemon. They had some kind of history, but… Renamon wouldn't tell her anything. The fox had given her the silent treatment for most of the night, and Ruki couldn't help but be bothered by it. She had never known Renamon not to talk to her when Ruki wanted her. She just couldn't fathom what could be wrong with her…

To make matters worse, Ruki couldn't help but get a horrible feeling that they weren't done with Muertemon. Or even if he _was_ dead, he was merely a servant for something else…

This was far from over, and for once, Ruki was starting to worry about the battles to come…

***

Atop a building stood a boy staring down at a construction site. He wore overalls and a cap, but his face was most certainly… different. It was flat and abnormally round, and normally a bored, blank stare was present on that face.

Now, however, the expression was one of furious rage.

_*The Sealed Demon's power,*_ he thought, _*I sense it… it was here in this area… but that's just not possible!*_

But there was no denying what he felt. 

_*I must contact my master,*_ he thought with dread, _*there is no other course I can take. My remaining brothers must know as well… there is certainly no room for petty squabbles with something of _this_ magnitude…*_

Lowering his head, he stared at his clenched fists. There was something else he had to do as well. But he would have to work fast now. Very fast

***

"What's wrong with me?" Takato whispered to himself, staring out his bedroom window from his bed. Culumon was curled up in the corner of his room, sleeping silently. The little digimon had been afraid to stay by himself after the ordeal they had gone through, so Takato had brought him home. 

But this question was one that had run through his mind quite frequently over the past couple days. Ever since that dream with MetalTyrannomon… How it had come true…

_*I… just don't get it,*_ he thought, _*it's not like I'm some kind of psychic or anything…*_

Yet it played out in real life over a day after he had dreamt it. 

_*Only it was different because I knew what was going to happen… despite not even being conscious, I knew _when_ it was happening… That allowed Guilmon to save them… This is just so surreal. I've never been able to do something like this before…*_

He paused in his thoughts.

He thought back…

*The dream… with Ruki, Renamon, and the Lynxmon…I could feel it. The rain. I could feel the rain, the wind… just as I felt everything in the dream with MetalTyrannomon… But did that other dream ever really happen?*

Takato sighed. He knew there was only one way to find that out…

The downside to that was, it might make Ruki think he was crazy.

***

Yamaki woke with a start, jolting upright from where he was sleeping and panting heavily. Within a matter of moments, however, he was regretting this. With a small groan, he reached down to where he had been shot… only to now find it bandaged. 

"Well, I see you're up."

Yamaki's eyes snapped to the doorway and found a woman with long red hair leaning against it. "Reika…"

She looked at him for an extended period of time before she walked into the room. "Your wound isn't anything serious… it looks like it didn't even go through you… just enough to make you hurt like hell."

 Yamaki didn't say anything and instead looked away from her, throwing his legs over the side of the bed. He tried to stand up, but regretted _this _a second later too as he started to fall over, clutching his wound again. Reika caught him in time, bringing him back to the bed. 

"Mind you, I didn't say that you're well enough to go running off yet."

He looked down at his bandages. "You…"

"I _was_ in medical school before I got involved in this whole… mess, remember."

Yamaki continued his attempt to avoid eye contact. "I shouldn't be here…" It was he, of course, that had _come_ there, but he was now beginning to regret it as his mind was clearing…

"Well, it's better than you laying dead in the streets…"

Yamaki should his head vigorously. "No. No, I shouldn't have came… if Sano's men find me here… or Muertemon…"

"Mitsuo," she said softly, and he finally allowed himself to look at her again. Her expression was one of confusion and concern. "Tell me what happened. Please."

Yamaki nodded slowly and took a deep breath before delving into his story. She sat and listened quietly, only nodding at various intervals. Once he began, Yamaki recited every little detail he could recall, not wanting to leave anything out. He knew very well that most people would think what he said was crazy… Yet if there was one person in the world he thought would believe him, it was her.  

He also knew that if he couldn't get her to believe him, he had no chance of getting others to do the same. 

As he finished, the room became quiet. Nothing could be heard, besides people outside going about their early-morning commute to work.

"I… I see," she murmured, and he gave her a worried expression.

She _did_ believe him, didn't she?

Obviously noticing the look on his face, she reached out and put a hand to his cheek. "Don't worry… I believe you."

As she spoke those words, Yamaki suddenly felt like a great weight had been lifted off of him and he lay back onto her bed.

"'Classified information', my ass," she muttered, looking down at him. "I could… tell there was something that wasn't right about Sano when he came to take your position…"

She paused as a look of great anger crossed his face. "That bastard," he growled, "he just wants me done away with so that he can do whatever he wants with Hypnos. But how could he do this without alerting those in higher positions? Surely they can't be involved in this…"

Yamaki thought to himself, eyes narrowing. "If we could just find someway to obtain the autopsy reports on Higashi and his men. Sano had to pay someone off when it came to that. There's no way that I can rip a human being apart like that in such a clean manner."

"Shouldn't that area have had a camera?" Reika asked. 

Yamaki nodded. "It should have… but Sano probably had his bases covered there too. Much as I hate to admit it, he's too smart to have something like that slip him up…" 

Letting out a long sigh, he sat back up slowly so the pain of his wound wouldn't hit him too hard. "I have to go."

She clamped her hand firmly onto his shoulder. "No, you don't."

"But if Sano or-"

Reika suddenly leaned forward, pressing her lips to his and cutting off any other sound that may have come out of his mouth. Yamaki froze briefly, but then accepted the kiss and wrapped his arms around her. 

After a few seconds, she pulled away from his mouth. "You can't do this by yourself," she whispered. "Don't think I'm going to _let_ you do it by yourself, either."

Yamaki couldn't find any other response to give other than to nod. There was nothing more he could do other than accept her decision. He just had to now figure out his next move…

***

As Ruki strolled beneath the shade of the park's trees, she couldn't help but think how much she loved summer time. With the warmth of the sun's rays shining down upon the city, at times she didn't mind just getting out to take a walk. She found the warmth relaxing, and found it easy to just get lost in her thoughts as she walked about.

_*Certainly better than the cold_,* she couldn't help but think to herself. _*Especially after things that have happened recently.*_

It wasn't that she was _afraid_ of the cold, of course. Ruki _feared_ very little, and there were few that could argue with her on that. She just didn't like the cold. Never had. She hated having to bundle up in thick coats just to go outside, having to work her through snow to get anywhere. It was just wet, messy, and… well, cold. She couldn't fathom why so many people loved it.

Besides, she found it much easier to identify with fire than ice.

Unfortunately, losing herself in her thoughts wasn't really something she wanted to do, since the main thought cropping up in her mind was one that was annoying her greatly. Stopping in her tracks suddenly, she spoke aloud. "Renamon."

In an instant, the tall, fox digimon appeared beside her Tamer. "Yes, Ruki?"

"I know we're supposed to be heading to meet Takato and the others," Ruki said, "but I want to get something out of the way first, because one of them could bring it up."

Though this was true, Ruki also knew that wasn't the reason she was about to bring it up. She could tell Renamon knew too.

"Why are you avoiding my questions about Muertemon?"

Renamon replied immediately. "You are my best friend Ruki. So under normal circumstances, I would tell you. However… at the moment, I will not. The knowledge I know of Muertemon's past is not important in defeating him. I will share with the others the weaknesses I know he possesses, but that is all. The rest is my business, not theirs."

"…so are you saying it's not my business, either?" Ruki asked slowly, not turning her head to look at the fox.

Renamon replied immediately. "I did not say that. I trust you above all others, and as I said, you are my best friend. That is why you are my Tamer. However… if there are things that you cannot trust to tell me, as I know there are, then for now I shall refrain from going into detail about that creature's past with me. That is only fair, is it not?"

Ruki looked at her. "What are you…"

"That night after Takato and Guilmon were put out of commission," she said simply, and that was enough. What Renamon meant came to Ruki suddenly, and she bowed her head.

"Renamon, I-"

"Not now," Renamon said, placing her paw on Ruki's shoulder. "We must meet the others, remember."

Ruki sighed. "Right…"

So, Ruki began to move again, her partner blinking out of sight. Soon, she reached the stairs leading up to Guilmon's hut and found everyone there already. Two things, in particular, stuck out from the norm; one was the fact that Shuichon was there, sitting between her brother and Terriermon, drawing something in the dirt with a stick. The other thing was the fact that Kenta was sitting rather far away from the rest, avoiding eye contact with everyone. Hirokazu was already talking when she arrived.

"-so I had to tell my parents that I was cornered by these thugs from the nearest High School, and they beat me up," Hirokazu said. "Unfortunately, now Mom's insisting on escorting me to school every morning… it was hard to get her to let me come over here today."

 Ruki coughed softly and everyone glanced in her direction, now noticing she had arrived. 

"CULU!" Culumon greeted, hopping up and down happily on Takato's head. 

Takato immediately sprang to his feet and took Culumon off of his skull. "Hey Culumon, why don't you go help Shuichon…" 

The green-eyed digimon looked at him oddly, but then shrugged and floated over to the young girl. "Hey Ruki, can I talk to you for a second?" Takato asked as he approached, but before she could respond he took her arm and started to lead her down the stairs.

Ruki gave a confused look to Juri, who just shrugged as she disappeared from her sight. Once Ruki and Takato had reached the bottom of the stairs, she broke away from him. "May I ask what _that_ was about?" she questioned in an irritated tone. 

"Um, well," he murmured, running a hand nervously through his brown hair, "you see-"

"Spit it out."

"Well, do you, uh, ever remember me mentioning a dream I had with you in it, once?"

Ruki shrugged half-heartedly. "Yeah. What about it?"

"Well, uh, a couple nights before you met me… did you and Renamon fight a digimon in a Digital Field?"

"Probably."

Takato looked somewhat flustered. "Right. Of course. You _were_ the only one doing that then, so-"

"Will you get to the point, already?"

"Was it raining were you wearing a trench coat did you face a Lynxmon and did you use a High Speed Plug-In B card?" he said very quickly, several of his words running together.

Ruki's slightly annoyed expression suddenly went blank. "…yes. I… I think so."

Takato let out a long sigh. "I saw that… all of that… in my dream. Before I met you. Before I even met Guilmon or realized that digimon were real."

She planted her hands on her hips. "You're pulling my leg, right?"

"No!" Takato protested. "No. I'm not… I know it's hard to believe, but… well, you know how I said that Lee-kun told me about MetalTyrannomon? He didn't… I saw that in my dreams too. _Before_ it happened. Only Guilmon was able to save you guys… if he hadn't come in when he did, you and Lee-kun would have died. Then Galgomon and Kyuubimon would begin to slowly delete before MetalTyrannomon finished the job. That vision, that dream was… somehow or another related to why I was out for so long. I can't explain it… not at all… but… I guess I just wanted to check with you to see if the other thing I had seen was real…"

Ruki couldn't find anything to say. She just looked at him, standing there looking so incredibly nervous… "Takato-"

"Hey!" Hirokazu's voice cried out. "Are we gonna have to wait all day for you two?!"

Takato suddenly spun around towards the steps. "Um, right…"

With that, he went dashing up the stairs.

"Well," Ruki muttered, "_that_ was… interesting."

"Indeed… indeed it was," Renamon's voice echoed around her. 

"I didn't even remembered I had even _used_ that particular card until he mentioned it," the redhead said. "But he's right…"

Just shaking her head, she wandered back up the stairs. As she reached the top again, she could see Shuichon was now holding Terriermon and no longer drawing, with Culumon sitting on her head. Terriermon's black eyes darted in all directions, as if looking for a way to release himself from her grasp.

"So," Hirokazu said, grinning, "what were you two talking about down there?"

Takato looked at him with a confused expression. 

Ruki, on the other hand, got the visor-wearing boy's message quite clear. Her hand thrust out, grabbing him by his black shirt, and he found himself being lifted off the ground. "Hirokazu," she said plainly, "I do believe you have the wrong idea. And you're injured enough as it is… understand?"

With that, she released him, and he stumbled back into a tree. "Geez!" he exclaimed. "Don't you know the meaning of a joke?"

"Say something funny and we'll see," she stated, turning around to look at the others. Takato still didn't seem to quite grasp what Hirokazu had been talking about, but Juri was giggling. 

_*That's certainly for the best,*_ Ruki thought.

"Anyway," Jenrya said, coughing into his hand, "lets get to the point of why we're here… As we all know, we now have two separate enemies targeting us."

"Most of us," Kenta mumbled barely loud enough to hear.

Jenrya blinked and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, we all know about the Devas, of course, and the odds of them slowing down anytime soon are slim." He reached down and picked up a stick off the ground, waving everyone over. As he pointed down, they saw that what Shuichon and Culumon had been working on were little drawings of various animals. "I don't know why I didn't realize it before, but I found something else the Devas correspond to looking through some books last night before bed."

He lowered the stick to the ground. "The Chinese Zodiac. So far, we have faced the tiger, Mihiramon, the snake, Santiramon, the rooster, Shinduramon, the ox, Vajiramon, the sheep, Pajiramon, the horse, Indaramon, and the rat, Kunbiramon. So that leaves the pig, the monkey, the rabbit, the dog, and the dragon."

"Dr-dragon?!" Hirokazu and Kenta stammered in unison.

Jenrya pointed the stick at them. "Well, _you_ won't have to fight them, y'know."

"Heh, heh. Of course," Hirokazu chuckled nervously.

"Right…" Kenta sighed.

Shuichon looked at the pictures, then up at the others. "So did I do good?"

Ruki smiled slightly and squatted down in front of her. "You did _very_ good."

Shuichon smiled and released Terriermon, clapping her hands together. This gave the little bunny-dog the chance to scramble unnoticed behind his Tamer's legs. "Thanks! I like the bunny the best…"

Ruki raised an eyebrow. _*Somehow, I doubt you'll like it if you run into it, kid.*_ She then glanced at Terriermon, who mouthed a silent "thank you" to her. 

"Leomon," Jenrya said, glancing over at Juri's towering partner, "I know Renamon's never seen the Devas in the Digital World, but have you?"

Leomon shook his head. "Sadly, I cannot say that I have. I had heard of them, however. They are said to be the loyal servants of the Southern Holy Beast, one of the Digital World's four guardians. I don't quite understand, however, why servants of a Holy Beast would be targeting you…"

"Holy Beast? Southern?" Hirokazu said, rubbing his chin. "Oh! You mean-"

"Zhuqiaomon," Ruki interjected.

"HEY!" Hirokazu exclaimed, but she paid him no mind. 

"Zhuqiaomon is the guardian of the south, Qinglongmon the east, Xuanwumon the north, and Baihumon the west," Ruki continued. 

"My, you humans know an awful lot about our world," Leomon said.

Ruki grinned. "With the fact all of the information is plastered on their cards, it's not hard."

"So, we're fighting gods of the Digital World," Hirokazu groaned. "Great…"

"_We're_ fighting them," Ruki reminded him. 

"Of course, then there's our _other_ problem," Jenrya said, "Muertemon and who he works for. This 'Lord Asmodeusmon.'" Below him, Culumon visibly shivered. "We don't know who they are. We don't know where they came from. All we know is that they want many of us dead. But we have an advantage… we know that Muertemon can be beaten. Taomon nearly did that… our disadvantage, however, is the same as our advantage. The Blue Cards. We need to figure out a reliable and consistent way of summoning them, or else we won't stand a chance."

Hirokazu crossed his arms, looking somewhat perturbed. 

"…what?" Jenrya asked.

"You don't need them," Hirokazu said, "remember? Takato and MegaloGrowmon took Indaramon down just fine with my little paper cut-out!"

"Yes, but we've never been able to do stuff like that before or since," Jenrya said. "Don't you think that, after seeing that, I've tried to concentrate like Takato did in battle to evolve Galgomon?"

"You're just not concentrating hard enough," Hirokazu stated matter-of-factly.

"Listen-" Jenrya began, but stopped immediately as Renamon suddenly appeared out of thin air, pointing herself at a bush with her arms crossed.

"Come out," she commanded, "_now._"

Stepping out from the bush was a familiar looking, flat-faced boy…

"_You_ again," Juri gasped.

"Oh, this is all we need," Takato growled. "Who _are_ you, anyway?! What do you want?"

The boy eyed all of them, and then his attention focused on Shuichon and Culumon. He smiled. This immediately prompted the others to close in around them. 

"I think Takato asked you a question," Leomon snarled, his hand moving for his sword. 

The boy's smile widened. He then opened his mouth wide and released an ear-piercing scream. "**_MA!!!_**" It was so loud, it was almost as if something had hit all of them. Even Renamon stumbled back a bit. 

Cackling madly, the boy then turned and ran. 

"He's not going to get away from me this time!" Renamon cried, leaping up through the trees to pursue him. 

"Renamon, wait!" Ruki shouted. As soon as she started to run, however, she stopped, seeing Takato slumped over on the ground, clutching his head. 

"Takato!" Guilmon exclaimed, kneeling down next to his partner. "Takato, what's wrong?!"

 "Takato-kun?" Juri questioned cautiously. 

"No…" he whimpered, his whole body shaking. "No… no… NO!"

"Takato-kun…" Jenrya said, reaching out for him. 

"_NO!_" Takato roared, thrusting a hand out blindly and striking Jenrya in the chest with surprising force. The boy was sent reeling back and hit the ground hard. 

"Jen-niichan!" Shuichon shouted.

Takato seemed to suddenly break out of his trance and freeze. His eyes went over to Jenrya, sprawled out on the ground, and he started to push himself up. "I… I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay," Jenrya grunted, pushing himself up. "But what happened…? Did Muertemon contact you again?"

"N-no," Takato said. Leomon reached down and pulled the boy to his feet.

"Then what?" the lion-man questioned him. 

"Th-they're coming," Takato said. "The Devas…"

"Dude, I think we've already realized this," Hirokazu said.

Takato shook his head. "No. I mean all of them."

As those words left his mouth, Terriermon's ears suddenly shot up, while both Guilmon and Leomon's bodies tensed. "Oh, great," Jenrya grumbled. 

"Digital Field," Terriermon said simply. 

***

 Renamon landed on a seemingly sturdy tree limb and looked down to see the boy coming to a stop near the park's water fountain.

_*_Definitely _not getting away now…*_

Suddenly, the tree limb snapped from beneath her and she grabbed the side of the tree, digging her nails into it to stay up. A dark chuckle echoed from the boy and his head turned around. He didn't do it like a normal person, it turned _completely_ around, something which would be impossible for a human without their neck snapping like a twig. He glanced up to look at her before chuckling again. Letting out a growl, Renamon pushed off of the tree and crossed her hands in front of her.

"FOX LEAF ARROWHEAD!" The multiple glowing leaves appeared before her until she slashed her arms forward, sending them down at the boy. 

He merely laughed yet again and did a back flip to avoid them, his head twisting back around to normal once he landed. Renamon hit the ground before dashing at the boy, fist flying. However, much to Renamon's surprise, the boy merely raised his hand up and caught her paw with ease. The fox Digimon's eyes widened in shock before the boy's smile grew wider. 

"Idiot," he said simply in a deep voice that definitely shouldn't belong to a child.

Before Renamon could reply, he pushed forward and sent her flying back into the tree, putting a rather large crack in it as she struck. The boy just looked at her silently before running off. Renamon groaned as she picked herself up, noticing as she did so the boy had already disappeared.

"What in the world…"

"RENAMON!" The fox lifted herself up and looked to see Ruki and the others approaching. "C'mon! A Digital Field's materialized!"

Renamon frowned. _*I was so caught up in chasing that thing that I didn't even notice… _And_ that thing then got the better of me… I'm getting rusty.*_

***

Near the hospital, the cap-wearing boy appeared on a building's roof. He immediately scowled. He could see the hospital building engulfed completely in a Digital Field. The humans were panicking. And within that field, he could sense something…

_*A fragment of the Sealed Demon's power.*_

However, as he looked around him, the entire city seemed to shake violently all of a sudden, and he grinned as four separate Digital Fields appeared all around. 

_*Yes, this will be taken care of very quickly…*_

**-End Chapter 04**

----

**Revision Notes**: This installment makes up… oh, I'd say maybe 1/3 of the original Chapter 3. It was one of my first rather large chapters, and I was quite proud of it by the time it was done. Of course, things have changed, as have my writing skills. The general intent of several things here are the same, with various little additions, not to mention the addition of a couple new plot points. Surprisingly, however, ONE scene did make the transition from the original to here, and that would be the second-to-last scene with Renamon. It's always been one of my favorites, for some reason, so I kept most of it intact. 

**End Notes:** Thanks go out to Megaraptor for looking this story over for me, and for all the help he's provided me with for this series.

**Next: **Chapter 05- "Raging Flames"


	5. Raging Flames

**Disclaimer: **They (Toei Animation, Bandai, and Akiyoshi Hongo) own Digimon Tamers, not I. The original characters? Those are mine.

----

Digimon Tamers

The Silver Lining

Chapter 05- "Raging Flames"

By Infinity Blade

----

"…it happened so suddenly that those in the building had no possible way to prepare for it. This fog, exactly like what appeared just over a month ago engulfing the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, has been shorting out all sorts of electrical equipment within the hospital at random. There is a great worry for those on life support, and most activity has ceased within the building as they work to cover those that require the equipment to live. As for everyone else inside, police have arrived, blocking off all entrances and exits. They are allowing no one out, and are not considering evacuation as they wait for word from officials. Sad to say, the government has yet to make any sort of statement. Even today, of course, there is still no official explanation for last month's events…"

Lee Jaarin sat in the living room of her family's apartment, her eyes transfixed on the television screen. The teenaged girl with short, brown hair had been like this for the past few minutes since news reports had broke through on several channels. At the moment, the television was displaying a shot of the fog-covered hospital given from above in a helicopter. Her nails dug deeply into the fabric of the couch, and her entire body felt unusually tense at watching this unfold. This could easily be a huge disaster…

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me…"

Jaarin let out a squeak and found herself jumping in her seat. Her head then jerked around to discover her elder brother by two years, Rinchei, standing behind her. "Oniichan!" she scowled. "How long have you been standing there?!"

"Long enough to see you sitting there catching flies with your mouth hanging open," he grinned.

She frowned and turned back to watch the television. "Shut up."

"So, they've finally got one of these things on tape, eh?" Rinchei questioned. 

These random patches of fog had been appearing for months all around Tokyo. However, due to their usually brief time of appearing and how they disrupted electrical equipment, no real evidence of them could be recorded. The largest one that had appeared a month before, in fact, had damaged electronics throughout the entire city. Oddly enough, though, this one, despite being just as big or bigger, was only disrupting things within it…

Jaarin gulped as the helicopter continued circling the hospital and filming. "All of those people in there…"

"Oh, they'll be fine," Rinchei said, "I mean, this can only last so long…"

"But the monsters…" she murmured, and she suddenly heard her brother snort. A quick glance at him let her see that he was trying to keep from laughing. "What's so funny?!"

"Monsters, huh?" Rinchei smirked. "Don't tell me you're buying into that…"

Jaarin glared at him. "And what do you call the things people have been seeing in those fog patches?"

"Mass hallucination. This is obviously some new type of weather phenomenon, and from all I've read and seen, it's been theorized that in additional to disrupting electronics, it has some type of affect on the human brain," he said, nodding sagely. "Sort of like a quick high you didn't ask for."

"Don't believe everything you read on the internet," she said, deadpan.

"And I'm supposed to believe we have Gamera crawling out of those things? No thanks."

He then spun around and went walking back towards his room.

"There's a difference between being a skeptic and being stupid!" she hollered after him.

"I'll remember that when the aliens come for you!" he cried back before shutting his door.

Jaarin sighed, glancing back at the television. "Mass hallucination my foot-"

No sooner did the word 'foot' leave her mouth did the entire place shake furiously. The girl screamed and fell out of her seat, barely catching herself on the coffee table. No sooner did it begin, though, the earthquake stopped. "What the," she mumbled, looking back up at the TV.

"Oh… my," the reporter gasped, and Jaarin's eyes widened. "Four more fog patches have appeared all around the original one!"

Her eyes then fell upon her backpack. As several thoughts registered through her mind, she nodded to herself. Soon, with the backpack slung over her shoulder, she was heading for the apartment's front door when Rinchei stuck his head out of his room.

"Hey, did you feel-" he began, but paused. "Where are you going?"

"Out," she said quickly, and then dashed out the door before he could respond.

***

Terriermon couldn't quite tell how it happened, but somehow Shuichon had regained her death grip around his neck. Under normal circumstances, he would try to silently beg for Jenrya to release him, but these weren't normal circumstances and they couldn't take the time to stop. 

They were all presently dashing down a sidewalk, though the only digimon other than him that were visible were Culumon, now planted on Takato's head again, and Guilmon. Leomon was following them by rooftop, while Renamon was… wherever she went when she vanished.

There were many things that were cause for worry. Takato had stated that all of the remaining Devas were coming. How he knew this, they didn't know, but whether he was right or wrong, they had to get to the newly formed Digital Field.

Or Fields, to be precise. As they neared the area the digimon sensed something realizing, they also felt a quick earthquake. As this occurred, they then saw more Digital Fields appearing in the distance, and the digimon felt _more_ things realizing.

This was not going to be a good day, Terriermon realized.

To make matters worse, as they neared the Digital Fields, they found a crowd of people blocking off the street and staring at the situation. "Oh, this is _all_ we need," Hirokazu muttered.

Ruki shrugged. "Well, we need to know what we're facing, anyway. Renamon, how many-" Ruki paused as she appeared to receive a response silent to everyone else, and then nodded. "Right. There are five Digital Fields, the largest in the center of them is covering the hospital."

"How do you _do_ that?" Kenta questioned.

"Trade secret."

"Well, we need to get through this mess without calling attention to our digimon," Jenrya said. 

"Them noticing digimon is going to be the least of our worries if we don't hurry up," Takato stated. 

As if in reply, there was a sudden, sharp sound that they couldn't identify the direction of. They didn't really have to, though, as they got to see where it came from quickly. 

Dropping down from the top of a building, obviously having come from the direction of the nearest Digital Field came a tall, lanky creature. It was a humanoid rabbit with brown fur, armor, and a purple scarf around his neck. He had long, thick arms, and short legs. He landed softly on the ground, before all of the humans. He didn't make a movement after that, but he was soon noticed, and his mere presence was enough. Every human in the area, save for the Tamers and their friends, ran like mad away from him. 

"It's the bunny!!" Shuichon exclaimed. Loudly. Into Terriermon's large, sensitive ears.

Jenrya guided the Tamers into the nearest alley. Soon their remaining companions joined them as Leomon dropped down into it and Renamon appeared beside Ruki. 

"Remind me to never doubt you, Takato," Hirokazu sighed.

"So what do we do?" Juri asked.

"Well," Ruki replied, looking out into the street for a moment. "He hasn't even _moved_ yet… But at least we don't have to worry about getting through crowds now…" She looked back at them. "Well, nice to see a Deva that we can recognize for once. That's definitely an Antiramon." 

"The rest of you should get going," Jenrya stated. "Terriermon and I will take care of him."

"Are you sure…?" Takato asked.

Jenrya just nodded. "Yes. There are four other Digital Fields out there, and you should really concentrate on clearing the one around the hospital first. I'll keep Shuichon here with me, but the rest of you need to go."

"He is correct," Renamon agreed.

"Okay," Takato sighed, and then looked at the only two other humans lacking digimon partners. "Maybe they should-"

"No," Jenrya stated. "I'll have my hands full here as it is. Besides, you may need some help if you find someone that needs to be taken out of danger in the hospital."

"Can you really beat him on your own?" Juri asked, worry evident in her tone.

Jenrya smiled. "Yeah… I just have to concentrate hard enough."

Hirokazu grinned at that and Jenrya bent down next to his little sister. "Shuichon, I need you to let go of Terriermon for me."

Terriermon silently praised every deity he could think of.  

"But I-"

"Shuichon," Jenrya interrupted softly, "I know it's scary, but we need Terriermon's help. If you want, you can stay here and I'll make sure you're safe, okay? But we need Terriermon."

"O-okay," Shuichon murmured, releasing her hold on the Child digimon.

Terriermon took several deep breaths. _*Sweet, sweet oxygen…*_ He then turned to the young girl. "Moumantai Shuichon! We'll be done with this in no time flat."

Jenrya turned back to the others. "Leomon, Renamon, you'll need to get everyone up over a few buildings since Antiramon will be in the way otherwise. Got it?"

"Got it, fearless leader," Ruki said with a smirk.

Jenrya's cheeks reddened. "Just get going, will you?" His gaze locked onto Terriermon. "You too."

Terriermon gave him a mock-salute. "No problem, Jen!" 

With that, he dashed out of the alley on his small, stubby legs and soon heard a shout from behind him. _"Card Slash! Super Evolution Plug-In S!"_

"EVOLUTION_"

He felt a rush of power, and his form started to change. _"Terriermon, evolve! GALGOMON!"_

 Completing his evolution as he came into the Deva's view, Galgomon immediately trained his guns on him. "Alrighty, buddy, we can do this the easy way, or the-"

"I wish not to harm you," Antiramon said softly. 

Galgomon's beady black eyes blinked. "…come again?"

"I did not appear here to inflict harm upon your person," Antiramon replied. "I am merely a guardian. It is my duty to prevent you humans from interfering with affairs that are none of your concern. So long as you do not try to pass, I will not harm you."

"None of our concern, my butt!" Galgomon shouted. "There are people in danger!"

Antiramon closed his eyes. "You do not comprehend the true severity of the situation. Your presence shall only complicate an already complex matter. In return for your compliance, we shall not seek the Digi-Entelechy from you at this hour."

Galgomon was at that point getting _seriously_ confused. "You'll not seek the _what_?"

"I…" Antiramon began, but trailed off, his eyes snapping up, and his head jerking up to his left, "deeply apologize."

The rabbit Deva suddenly leapt up for the building to his left. 

The building that the other Tamers were probably on at that point.

"No you don't!" Galgomon cried, running forward. His speed felt increased; Jenrya must have used a card. Galgomon's thick, strong legs sent him flying into the air, and his right gun-hand began to rotate. "DUM DUM UPPER!" 

His fist, now spouting green flame from gunpowder igniting in the center of his gun-hand, crashed against Antiramon's skull and sent the Deva flying. Obviously not having expected Galgomon to strike with such immense force, he had no way to save his fall, and hit the street roughly, sliding along it until he slammed into a street light. It was bent and twisted by the force of his large body hitting it. 

Galgomon's feet touched back down on the hard ground and aimed his black gun-hands back at the Perfect digimon. "Sorry buddy, but you're grounded!"

Antiramon lifted himself up so that he was crouching on one knee. He eyed Galgomon, his expression unreadable.

But he did not move to attack.

Galgomon grit his teeth. "Hey, what are you? Chicken?!"

"My duty is to prevent you from passing," Antiramon said, "I have failed in that task now that your friends have done so. Still, I must abide by my master's wishes. I will still prevent you from passing. But it is my choice how to do so…"

***

"What are you waiting for?!" Sano roared as he stomped up into Reika and Megumi's monitoring chamber. Reika nearly jumped in her seat and looked down at the man. She had been a little late into Hypnos that day, but no one had noticed much besides Megumi. She was thankful to her friend for not prying too deeply into her reasons for being tardy. 

The look beneath Reika's visor was one of scorn at the moment. But thankfully for her, Sano couldn't see it. "We were awaiting your orders… _sir_." The last word had a sharp, venomous tone to it, but it went unnoticed by Sano. "It is not our fault you weren't here when this happened."

Sano scowled. "Do not tell me you cannot function on your own."

"We are not at liberty to take actions like that," Megumi said, her voice stiff and betraying her usual cheery attitude. "If something catastrophic happened, we would be held accountable. So we are only to use systems like Yuggoth when ordered by a superior. If you had left Sasaki here while you were gone, it would be a different matter, of course…"

Reika blinked. Sano's underling _was_ strangely absent.

"Then do it," Sano said, his scowl still etched on his face.

"I actually wouldn't advise that…" Megumi said.

"_What?_" Sano growled. "I am your superior. I gave you an order. Just-"

"You also have admitted to not being familiar with technical stuff like this… _sir,_" Megumi interjected. Reika could barely suppress a grin. She was suddenly becoming _very_ impressed with her friend. "The energy signals are the same kind we've been getting for awhile… and Yuggoth has no chance of stopping these signals."

In the dim light that was cast on him, Reika could see that Sano was sweating… and there seemed to be an almost nervous look in his eyes. "Then just try it."

Megumi nodded. "We will. But it may be best to leave this to the Self Defense Force…"

"We'll see," Sano said, "and if that doesn't work, initialize the Shaggai System."

Reika opened her mouth to say something, but Sano quickly spun around and exited the chamber. 

_*_That_ could certainly be more trouble than it's worth,*_ Reika thought. But there wasn't much she could do to argue; they had been given their orders. They didn't have choice but to go through with them now…

***

Leomon and Renamon ran along the rooftops as fast as they could while still carrying their cargo. In either of Leomon's large arms were Takato and Juri, with Culumon being cradled in the boy's arms, and Guilmon hanging onto his back. Renamon, meanwhile, was doing much of the same, carrying Ruki and Kenta, while Hirokazu hung onto her from behind for dear life. 

Juri tore her brown eyes away from staring at the looming Digital Fields to the boy across from her. He had an incredibly worried expression he hadn't shook since they had left the park. Considering what was now happening, under normal circumstances she wouldn't be able to blame him, but…

She was really beginning to worry about him. He had usually been such a kind, quiet boy… not the kind of person she would think could harm a fly. Yet, when she saw his anger erupt at Muertemon, and then his display in the park…

"Takato-kun?" she spoke, drawing his attention. "I… I was wondering… Leomon and I got to the park before you, and we found Hirokazu-kun and Kenta-kun already there… Kenta-kun mentioned something about Muertemon speaking to you… that you collapsed when it happened…"

Takato's expression was unreadable for a moment, and he then turned his head to look at the Digital Fields himself. "Y-yeah… he did, Katou-san…"

He seemed nervous to speak to her. Juri was quite aware the boy had a crush on her, so this wouldn't be the first time he would be nervous around her. From her own perspective, while she thought of him as a great friend, that wasn't really what she wanted from him. There was something different about the way he was acting here, though…

"Was it anything like what happened in the park?" she asked, slowly and choosing how she phrased it carefully. 

He remained silent as he appeared to be thinking about it rather hard. Finally, though, he nodded. "I… guess so. But at the same time… it wasn't. I… I can't explain it…"

"Then it is best not to try," Leomon said, "if you cannot understand what is going on at the moment, then it is best to wait and not dwell on things. Everything becomes clearer with time."

Juri nodded to her partner, smiling slightly. "Leomon's right… sorry, Takato."

He blushed and looked down. "N-no, it's okay…"

The moment his head tilted down, however, he noticed Culumon suddenly shaking in his arms. 

"Culumon?" Juri questioned. "What's wrong?"

"Something… culu… something else is coming… culu…" he said, his voice trembling with fright.

"_What?!_" Guilmon shrieked from behind them. It was unusual for the reptile to make such an exclamation, but in this case, it was obviously a thought all of them shared…

***

The cap-wearing boy was not happy. Not at all.

He stood on a building across from the hospital, the same place he had been since these four extra Digital Fields had appeared. However, he had only detected movement from one, and Antiramon was doing his job to the best of his ability, at the very least. But the others… 

_*I didn't get the chance to grab the Digi-Entelechy from those brats,*_ he grumbled inwardly. _*There were too many of them for me to make a clean swipe… if one of the others went to take it out from under my nose instead of doing their job, I swear…*_

Just then, his eyes caught something. Dropping down off a building and immediately sprinting for the hospital…

The children and their digimon. Well, most of them anyway. And in the arms of one child…

"The Digi-Entelechy," he gasped. His eyes darted every which way, to see if any of the other Devas were nearby.

He was supposed to wait for them, but…

The boy adopted a cold smile on his face. _This_ was his chance…

However, before he could move, that chance escaped him. His body suddenly became stiff. He felt cold. His eyes widened and he gulped. He felt something behind him…

_*Another… fragment of the Sealed Demon…*_

The boy's head turned slowly around to see something towering over him. It was a large, muscular, humanoid creature with pitch-black skin. His stern face was framed by four horns, with two of them curving upward from his forehead, while two others curving downward from his chin. His eyes and hair were both a bright crimson, and fangs could be seen in his sneering mouth. He wore deep blue armor, and there were two swords mounted in scabbards on his back. 

"You will not interrupt the work of Asmodeusmon," the creature's gruff, deep voice boomed. He held out his hands, both of which immediately started to glow red. "So says Akumamon! MAXIMUM FIRE!"

The boy had no time to defend himself, and red-hot flames suddenly washed over his body. He screamed, and was flung off the rooftop. The flames didn't stop pouring over him until he smashed hard into the concrete, the sheer force of this act shattering it. The boy then just laid there, smoke and dust rising up from the small hole in the ground. He groaned, pain wracking his entire being, and he grasped around. His hand latched onto a piece of broken street and hauled himself up. 

He first took in his own condition; his clothes were tattered, his body scorched, but he was still alive. That much was good, at least. He then took in the situation all around him. There were very few people around. In fact, in this area, the only ones he noticed were the children and their digimon… 

Knowing his cover had been blown, and now just plain pissed off, the boy's body immediately was engulfed in a bright light. His form soon changed, becoming somewhat taller. He gained baggy pants, a vest, and a scarf. A tail sprouted from his backside, and his head… continued to remain quite large. He still sported a hat on his head, although it was much different now. His body was also covered in fur from his transformation, and it was quite clear what he was…

"Makuramon," he heard the redheaded girl say out loud, staring down at her little device. "Perfect level, Holy Beast digimon."

The monkey Deva ignored the children, and instead focused on Akumamon, who was dropping down off the building. He landed on a car, crushing much of it with his weight and strength. Makuramon noticed the children were startled by this, but tried to analyze Akumamon anyway. 

They soon found they couldn't, and Makuramon grinned. "Foolish humans…"

Akumamon flexed his clawed fingers, which were still burning red. "You are the fool, Deva. You and your kind believe yourself to be above all others, and force your rule upon them…"

Makuramon scoffed, though his eyes caught something above and he had to resist smiling. "Yes, and I'm sure you don't think the same for yourself at all, do you?"

"Asmodeusmon _is_ above all others!" spat the demon.

Akumamon didn't get to truly start the tirade he was surely about to go on. Instead, something large struck him from behind, sending him flying into another car. Flames then rained down on the demon, and something within the car ignited, causing a rather large explosion. 

Makuramon focused on the source of the attack; a large, long, green dragon. Majiramon. He glanced around, expecting one of the children to try and analyze him. They were nowhere to be found, however, and he saw several people that were obviously from human law enforcement surround the area. 

They didn't matter to him, though. He looked back to the car engulfed in flames and saw them get sucked into something; to be specific, Akumamon's hands. 

Makuramon was most definitely irritated now. Fingering the small, silver ball now cupped in his hand, his only real means of attack, he knew his chance had escaped from him…

***

Galgomon couldn't _believe_ this! Every time he tried to attack Antiramon, the rabbit Deva dodged. Easily. He was making very little effort to avoid his attacks, now that he was focusing just on the single Adult digimon, and the fact he _was_ making little effort to do this annoyed Galgomon greatly. 

"Why are you wasting our time like this?!" Galgomon shouted, breathing heavily. Antiramon wasn't panting at all. "We have to get to that hospital!"

"The matter must be dealt with first," Antiramon said calmly, "so just turn away, please. I am not attempting to be your foe… Just flee from the danger while you can."

Suddenly, a scream pierced the air, as did a shout. "_Galgomon!_"

Galgomon spun on his heel to discover Jenrya running out of the alley, pulling Shuichon along by her hand. Before he could question the cause of this, he saw it; following them slowly was a large, metal-clad dog with a scarf around his neck and three horns on his head. 

"Chatsuramon," Antiramon gasped softly.

What was obviously the dog Deva locked his eyes onto his rabbit comrade. "Antiramon, your naivety is surpassed only by your foolishness."

As Jenrya and Shuichon found their way behind Galgomon, Antiramon bowed his head. "I… do not understand…"

Chatsuramon bared his fangs. "Your treatment of your enemies is most disconcerting."

"But… the Sealed Demon's fragments… I thought that you were-"

"That is being taken care of by the others," Chatsuramon spoke. His eyes now fell on Galgomon and the others. "Where is the Digi-Entelechy?"

"The _what_?!" both Jenrya and Galgomon chorused. 

Chatsuramon sneered. "The one you call 'Culumon'…"

Jenrya stepped out in front of his partner. "We don't have him. Why?"

"None of your concern, _filth_," Chatsuramon snapped. "Antiramon, dispose of them. Now. I shall find the other humans."

"Over my dead body!" Jenrya shouted.

"That's the _idea_," the dog Deva rumbled. "Do you believe you can stop the both of us from doing just what we wish?"

Jenrya reached into his pocket, drawing out a single card. This seemed somewhat odd to Galgomon, as he seemed to pick it randomly. "As a matter of fact, I do," Jenrya proclaimed. "I'll protect my friends, family, and anyone else you might harm, no matter what!"

With those words, the card erupted into a brilliant, blue light. Galgomon couldn't help but chuckle. "What was that about concentration not working?"

Jenrya smirked. "Just shut up and go." 

Galgomon wasn't about to argue. He took a quick leap over his Tamer's head and went dashing for the dog Deva. 

_"Card Slash! MATRIX EVOLUTION!"_

"MATRIX EVOLUTION_"

Galgomon felt that rush of power again, only now it was much more intense. _"Galgomon, EVOLVE!"_ He became much larger, though his body went from bulky to thin. He felt cybernetic parts infuse themselves within him as green armor snapped around various parts of his body. Rocket launchers formed over his hands, and as the helmet finished forming itself around his head, he cried out, _"RAPIDMON!"_

"Oh dear," Chatsuramon said with a big, toothy grin, "how _intimidating_…"

"Shut up!" Rapidmon barked, and then streaked towards the armored dog at an incredible velocity. Somehow, though, quicker than Rapidmon could reach him, Chatsuramon phased out of sight. Rapidmon brought himself to an immediate halt, his eyes darting all over the place. "What the…"

"Hmph."

Rapidmon spun around, discovering Chatsuramon to merely be on the other side of the street. "You tin-plated coward! Come over here and fight!"

"Oh, I do not have to stoop to the level where I would have to come in contact with your filth to accomplish that," Chatsuramon proclaimed. He then left his mouth hanging open and released a growl. Nothing appeared to happen at first… and then Rapidmon saw it. Everything before Chatsuramon became distorted, as if reality itself was being warped. The ripples tore apart the paved road, and upon seeing this, Rapidmon knew better than to stay where he was. He rose into the sky quickly, just in time for the ripples to punch a hole through the building behind him. 

If nothing else, Chatsuramon's attitude was really beginning to irritate the cyborg digimon. To look down on him for no reason at all, to see him and Jenrya as little more than 'filth', and to have such an uncaring nature towards the human lives that were in danger… He had to shut him up, and he had to do it fast. Completely ignoring the rabbit Deva nearby, Rapidmon leveled the missile launchers attached to the front of his arms at the dog. "Eat this! RAPID FIRE!"

A missile burst forth from each barrel, spiraling down towards Rapidmon's armored opponent… but they never reached their destination. 

Antiramon had leapt into their path.

They struck his chest, and the explosion was instant. The rabbit Deva released a horrifying scream as his body was violently tossed back into a building. As he struck it, the entire structure shuddered as he plowed through it, shattering concrete, glass, and anything else that may have been within. Rapidmon zipped over to Jenrya and Shuichon in an instant, standing in front of them to prevent injury as dust and rubble spewed out from the building. 

Through the dust, Rapidmon could just barely make out the figure of Chatsuramon. Unexpectedly, he heard the dog laugh. The cyborg's large, blue eyes widened, and his anger towards the Deva began to rise even more. 

"How can you laugh about something like that?!" Jenrya screamed from behind his digimon partner. "That was your comrade! He did that to protect you!"

"Stupid human," Chatsuramon snarled, "Antiramon did what he is required to do. He knows his place, as you will soon know yours! He carries out the will of Zhuqiaomon-sama, just as I do. There is no other course but that!"

The dust was still quite heavy. Rapidmon squinted and thought… no matter how fast he moved, Chatsuramon seemed to be able to predict when he would strike. However, with this cloud having fallen over them… he may have the opportunity to attack…

This train of thought, however, was brief, as he was quite literally shaken out of it seconds later. The entire earth began to tremble again, as an earthquake suddenly began to shake the surrounding area… Shuichon screamed behind him, and the building Antiramon had plowed through seemed about ready to collapse…

And then it stopped.

"What was that?!" Rapidmon shouted in surprise.

Unexpectedly, Chatsuramon laughed once more. "That, I am afraid, is merely the end to this whole perversion preparing itself…" 

***

Getting into the hospital was an easy enough task. With the police suddenly distracted by the Devas and that demon, they had no problems sneaking past security. As the digimon sensed the threat high up in the building, Leomon and Renamon had scaled up the building carrying the others to the general area that they felt it to be around. Inside the building, however, they were soon met with the problem of not knowing where it was _exactly._ None of the digimon could really pinpoint where it was…

There were also three hallways around them. One was directly in front of them, and two were to either side. "Okay," Ruki said, her mind processing the situation rapidly. "Renamon and I will go forward. Takato and Guilmon, take Culumon and…" Ruki eyed the others, and something occurred to her. "Kenta. Go left."

Kenta shot her a sudden, pleading look, but could not really voice it without coming off as rude, which Ruki very well knew.

Hirokazu, being more perceptive than Ruki would have given him credit for, quickly seemed to grasp what she was getting at. He glanced at Juri and grinned. "Right for us then. C'mon Katou."

Juri smiled and nodded, also appearing to understand Ruki's intentions. Merely nodding, Ruki headed forward without looking back. She knew they'd do the same, so there was no need to check to make sure they were gone. 

It was dark in the hallway… and quiet. Too quiet, in fact… So quiet that Ruki almost felt her mind begin to drift… But she knew she had to stay focused on her goal.

Renamon sniffed the air. "Hmm… something smells… burnt."

Ruki smelled the air as well. Though she knew her senses were nowhere near as good as her partner's, she _could_ smell something. It was definitely a burnt smell… that only served to give the girl a somewhat queasy feeling in her stomach…

"But what-" Ruki began, but had no chance to continue, as the door to one room was suddenly blown off it's hinges by a burst of flame. From out of the room flew a humanoid, moth-like creature with red armor. Her eyes started to widen, though whether it was from surprise or some sense of mild fear, she couldn't figure out. However, instincts and adrenaline soon took over, and she whipped out her Digivice. "Shadramon," she read off the analyzer screen, "Armor level."

The digimon's eyes seemed to lock on Renamon, and before she could defend herself, he streaked towards her. Shadramon plowed into the fox and carried her back through the hallway before slamming her body into the ground.

"Renamon!" Ruki cried, and began to move, but stopped as soon as she started after what she saw next. A wall of black energy suddenly sprouted from the ground, cutting her off completely from her partner. "What the…" she murmured, turning around, only to find that another wall had appeared at the end of the hallway. 

"Well, well, well… I must say that I am certain quite pleased for you to be the first of my prey here…"

Ruki froze, eyes wide. Black fog appeared from nowhere and formed into a dark figure…

"Muertemon," she gasped.

The demonic warrior's single red eye shined brightly in the darkness. "Yes, my dear… I think it is time that we finished what was started…"

**-End Chapter 05**

----

**Revision Notes**: Uh… I changed basically everything. ^^; A majority of what is in this chapter wasn't in the original, aside from parts of the final scene. Akumamon's entrance is also similar, for the most part, to the original appearance of Asmodeusmon, as well.

Besides that, as usual, constructive criticism is accepted and encouraged, while flames will be used for marshmallows. 

**Next:** Chapter 06- "Breaking Point" 


	6. Breaking Point

**Disclaimer:** Digimon Tamers is owned by Bandai, Toei Animation, and Akiyoshi Hongo. Original characters are owned by me. 

----

Digimon Tamers

The Silver Lining

Chapter 06- "Breaking Point"

By Infinity Blade

----

"The end?!" Rapidmon shouted to Chatsuramon. "What is that supposed to mean?!"

The dog Deva once more gave a deep chuckle. "You'll find out, soon enough… I will say, though, that it is here to remove the vile piece of the Sealed Demon that has made its way into this world. We have surrounded it, and soon, will obliterate _it_ and everything its corrupt hand has touched!"

"Sealed… Demon?" Rapidmon questioned.

"Wait," Jenrya said, his voice suddenly filled with fear. "'Surrounded it'… 'everything it has touched'… oh no…"

"Jen?" the cyborg asked, looking back at his Tamer.

"The hospital!" Jenrya shouted. "They're going to attack the hospital! It's at the center of the five Digital Fields! Rapidmon, with everyone else in there, they may not know until it's too late… We've got to stop them!"

"Well, with bunny-boy out for now, we've got one down," Rapidmon said, watching as the dust cleared and Chatsuramon came into view. "And you're next!"

"I am, am I?" the Deva grinned.

"Jen, Shuichon! Get back!" Rapidmon shouted. His Tamer wasted no time in dragging his sister away, allowing the Perfect to focus his attentions completely on Chatsuramon. "HOMING MISSILE!"

A cluster of rockets fired out from either side of the pack on his back, curved around him, and headed straight for Chatsuramon. The dog Deva smiled and vanished from sight just before the missiles all struck the ground, blowing apart a significant chunk of the street and sidewalk. It also kicked up quite a bit of dust. 

Chatsuramon reappeared in one of the few clear areas of the street. "Pathetic." 

A look of surprise then crossed the dog's face; Rapidmon was nowhere to be found. 

"RAPID FIRE!" 

Two more rockets burst from out of the cloud of dust the Homing Missiles had created. One went quite far away from Chatsuramon, merely blowing up another part of the street. The other, however, flew straight into the Deva. The resulting explosion knocked him back into the side of a building, and he slumped down to the sidewalk. His armor was now damaged, and he had been given a reason not to grin any longer.

"H-how…" Chatsuramon snarled as Rapidmon flew out of the dust cloud, training his missile launchers on his enemy. 

"Well, if you're asking how I got there so quickly," the cyborg said, sounding quite pleased with himself, "I'm not called _Rapid_mon for nothing."

Chatsuramon stared up at the floating Perfect, hatred filling his eyes. His look of intense anger was all too brief, however, as his smirk returned. "It is no matter… no matter how clever you think you are, you don't have the power to defeat Vikararamon… The Sealed Demon's corruption shall not grow!"

With those words, the dog Deva disappeared again. This time, however, he did not come back. 

Giving a sigh of relief, Rapidmon floated back down to the ground to meet Jenrya and Shuichon as they ran up to him. "Rapidmon!" Jenrya shouted. "How did you…"

Rapidmon chuckled. "Oh, well, since he always vanished so much, I figured if I used the dust to my advantage, I could nail him with at least one hit."

 "But… you couldn't see in that dust either…"

Rapidmon indicated the small crater that was made from the Rapid Fire missile that missed. "Yeah, well… I knew he was gonna want a clear shot at me, but with all this dust around, there were only a few places that he could have done that. So, I just tossed a couple of missiles where I thought he'd be… heck, if I had missed with both of them, he probably would have not moved and just laughed. I definitely would have known where he was then!"

Jenrya just stared at his partner digimon. "Wow."

The cyborg grinned beneath his mask. "Impressed?"

"Yeah, that you actually came up with something like that…"

"Thanks!" Rapidmon exclaimed, but then paused. "…I think… hey, wait a second!"

Jenrya began to snicker a bit, but Shuichon spoke before he could. "So… the bad doggy's gone…?"

"Yep!" Rapidmon replied. "All thanks to yours truly!"

"Of course, whether or not you can do the same to the others is another story," Jenrya sighed.

Shuichon paused and looked up at her brother. "What about the bunny?"

Jenrya, obviously clueless as to why she was asking that, blinked. "What about him…?"

"The bunny said he didn't wanna fight… but he got blasted…" she said, pointing to the building that Antiramon had plowed through, and where he probably still was. "Shouldn't you help him?"

Jenrya sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Listen, Shuichon… it's complicated."

"But Jen-niichan…" 

"Shuichon," Jenrya said, his expression becoming stern. "Antiramon is an enemy, just like the other Devas. If we let them get their way, people will be hurt. None of them are our friends. We can't help him."

Shuichon stared at the ground. "He didn't wanna fight…"

Jenrya slapped his forehead. "Rapidmon… come on. We need to get going."

***

Ruki was most certainly not in a good position. Walls of energy on either end of the hallway blocked her off from her partner, Renamon. To make matters worse, now standing before her was the black cloaked, skull faced, demonic warrior Muertemon. His single, ruby eye illuminated the darkness of the hallway as his dark voice gave a low laugh. 

"You got away from me last time," he said. "All of you slipped right through my fingers… because of my own stupidity. I made a mistake. I paid for that mistake… but it is time to try and make up for that now…"

Ruki barely paid attention to his words; she knew that whatever he was going to do, it wasn't good. Instead, she focused on trying to find a way out. She obviously couldn't get past him, so trying that would be just stupid. There had to be a way out of this situation, though… things couldn't just end this easily…

With barely a thought, Ruki bolted towards the only place she could; the room Shadramon had burst out from. She realized this wouldn't put her in any kind of better position, but it would give her more time to think… She just needed to think… 

Yet inside the room, she immediately found herself stopping. She almost had to remind herself to breath again at the sight of the charred, burnt-out room. Due to the thick fog of the Digital Field, it was still very dark in here… but she could see that everything inside had been scorched by the Armored digimon. However, what had surprised her was something entirely different: In the corner, she could see that the floor had a hole burned through it. Unable to resist smiling, she dashed for the hole as fast as she could…

Unfortunately, Ruki was not fast enough. Before she had even reached it, black and red energy closed up over the hole, blocking her from the escape route. She skidded to a halt, staring at the newly formed barrier with disbelief. "N-no…"

"Sorry, but I'm afraid so."

Seeing a crimson glow being cast over the shadows, Ruki slowly turned back around the face the Soldier of Death. "What do you want with me…?"

Muertemon grinned. "Such a simple question with no simple answer…"

"Stay away," Ruki said, attempting to sound fierce but falling flat. "Or else-"

"Or else what, little girl?" Muertemon said with amusement. "You believe yourself to be so strong… that you have no weaknesses… that no one is above you… But all of that is merely a lie. You are not strong. You have oh so _many_ weaknesses. You are below many, as well…"

"You're lying," Ruki replied sharply. She couldn't fight back against this thing, but she would not, _could not_ show him fear. "I have-"

"Renamon," Muertemon interjected, his voice filled with disgust. "It all comes down to Renamon… You really are pathetic, you wretched little human. To think you have such power… to command her… You're wrong. You are merely deluding yourself… You have no power. Anything you think you have is only what you take from _her!_"

Ruki could almost feel the anger surging from his voice. What she saw made her even more nervous, however… Creeping along the wall towards her was the same dark energy that was keeping her from going anywhere.

"But that's all over now," Muertemon chuckled, and then waved a hand.

Suddenly, dark tendrils of power snapped out from the wall, grabbed her arms and legs. An uncontrollable scream escaped her mouth as she was pulled against the wall and held there. She struggled against her restraints, trying to tug or wiggle her way loose, but they held strong. Nothing she did could break through the power that held her…

"Yes, yes, go on ahead," he said gleefully. "Struggle all you like. It'll only make things easier for me in the end…"

Ruki stopped. She knew if she couldn't break free, she'd only tire herself out… She couldn't give him what he wanted… "Tell me what you're doing here."

"Ooh, demanding, aren't we?" he asked. "Tell me, Ruki… why do you think we are here? Why do you think I have set this situation up like I have? Go on, my dear, tell me… what is it you fear?"

Ruki took in her surroundings, contemplating his words, trying to figure out what he meant… she recalled everything that had happened … _how_ everything had happened… where they were…

Then, realization suddenly hit her, and Muertemon smirked.

"Heh, heh… so you _do_ understand. Excellent. That shall make things _so_ much easier…"

Ruki glanced back at the demonic warrior. His tone seemed so confident, as if he had already conquered his goal. He thought that he was victorious…

The next sound heard was one that wiped the amused expression right off his face: The sound of Ruki laughing. 

"You idiot," she chuckled. "Do you honestly think I'm going to cave in that easily? You may know more about me than I was expecting, but if you think something like just this place and you is going to make me break down… you're stupider than I thought."

Muertemon was silent. His usually amused expression was blank. He just stared at her with his single eye… which she could swear was starting to glow brighter by the second. Then, with no warning, one of his hands shot out from beneath his cloak, wrapping tightly around her neck.

"You stupid, insignificant, little insect!" he exclaimed, the anger in his voice somehow even greater than before. She could only watch him with wide eyes, gasping for breath as he grasped her throat. "Do you think you can laugh at the power of Lord Asmodeusmon so easily? I am going to break you, girl… I am going to shatter your confidence into itty, bitty pieces and leave you little more than a whimpering, huddled mass crying for your mother!" 

Muertemon pulled away, and Ruki could feel more of the dark energy washing over her body. It felt… cold… everything was becoming blurry…

"With you out of the way, my path will be clear!" he shouted. "No one will be there to stand in my way, and I will show Renamon just what kind of mistake she has made!"

Everything around her was vanishing… she just couldn't hold on any longer… she couldn't stop her world from slipping into darkness…

_*Rena… mon…*_

_***_

Kenta followed behind Takato & Guilmon, making sure to keep a decent enough distance behind them. He didn't want to get in their way…

The boy wasn't normally one to worry about what others thought of him. However, something about what Takato had said before they went off to face Muertemon the day before had struck him… Just what was he doing, really? Even after finding out they were real, he had still been treating digimon like they were just a game. Yet this "game" had put his friends into a life or death situation…

_*Takato was right… I would have just been in the way…*_

So what was he doing _here_? He didn't have any special skills that would help them out. He wasn't a Tamer. So just why was he there?

_*Besides being dead weight, that is…*_

"Kenta?" 

Kenta came to a halt, realizing the other boy and his digimon had done the same. Both of them were looking at him, as well. 

"Are you alright?" Takato asked. "You've been kind of… quiet."

The green-haired boy stared at the floor. "It's… it's nothing, really."

Takato just gave a small sigh. "Listen… if it's about yesterday…"

Just then, a large noise caught their attention. Kenta's head jerked back up, immediately realizing the source of the sound. "That came from the hall Ruki and Renamon went down!"

Needing no further prompting, all three of them went running back to where they had come from. 

***

Renamon bounced between the walls, ceiling, and floors to avoid Shadramon's numerous advances on her. She was being quite successful in this, but was becoming annoyed that she couldn't get a clear shot at the armored insect. She knew that this battle needed to be finished soon, as she recognized the energy wall blocking her off from her Tamer to be the same type of power Muertemon has used before…

The fox then felt… something. It was a quick flash in her mind, and she couldn't quite determine _what_ it was, but she knew what it meant. This was not an unfamiliar feeling… she had felt it many times in the past… _*Ruki's in trouble.*_

Her momentary pause of concern enveloping every thought was just what Shadramon needed. The Armored digimon stopped in the air, thrusting its arms forward before unleashing a cry, "PSYCHIC WAVE!"

 The scenery around Renamon seemed to ripple… and then she screamed. Clutching her head, the fox dropped to her knees, continuing to let out an intense, unending howl of pain. Her brain felt as if it were on fire, and she could concentrate on nothing. It was beyond anything she had ever felt before, anything she ever thought she _could_ feel… Her paws swiped blindly around her, searching for something, anything to throw in the digimon's direction… Something to make it _stop!_

And then… it _did_ stop. As Renamon's vision came back to her, she spotted Shadramon flying into the side of a wall. "What…"

"Renamon!" a familiar voice shouted, and she turned, discovering that all of her comrades had come to her aide. Takato, the one that had shouted her name, was there with Juri, Leomon, Hirokazu, Kenta, Culumon, and Guilmon. The reptile was hunched over, his eyes feral, so Renamon presumed he had been to one to blast her opponent. 

Renamon rose back to her feet, looking back just in time to see Shadramon removing itself from the wall. She just crossed her arms and took aim. She had no time to waste on something like this. "FOX LEAF ARROWHEAD!" 

There was nowhere to fly for safety for the Armored digimon as a large number of glowing leaves streaked through the air, piercing its armor in several areas. Shadramon barely even had the time to scream in pain before blowing apart into small, red fragments of data.

Renamon breathed heavily, her blue eyes watching the energy of the barrier in the hallway flowing back and forth. The black and crimson blockade was just like what Muertemon had used to protect the construction site the night before… and just what he had used to trap them. But once again, they had no choice but to bust through it… "Leomon," she snapped, "Guilmon. Give me a hand, we need to get through to the other side! Ruki's there."

"Um, Renamon," Juri said uneasily, "doesn't this look like the shield that-"

"Yes," Renamon said, "Muertemon is here as well. There's no doubt in my mind."

She was barely finished talking before both Guilmon and Leomon were at her side. Nothing needed to be said. They knew what had to be done.

"FIREBALL!"

"FOX LEAF ARROWHEAD!"

"FIST OF THE BEAST KING!"

***

_*He didn't want to fight…*_

Shuichon wasn't a stupid girl. She may have been young, but she understood more than those older than her generally expected. She had thought that she was a big girl, and could take care of herself… but after the last day, she was very thankful for the presence of those that wanted to protect her. 

In the end, she _was_ really still just a little girl… and after being put through the ordeal with Muertemon, there wasn't a moment that passed where she wasn't scared in some way. She constantly felt as if that demon was watching her. As if he could jump out at any second and take her away from her family again.

Two days before, if she had found out that Terriermon was real, she would have just been excited at the prospect of having someone to really play with her. With what had happened, though, that excitement wasn't there. She was just very thankful he _was _real. Because she knew if she could stay near Terriermon and her brother, she would be safe…

 At that present moment, Rapidmon was flying through the sky with Shuichon and Jenrya on his back. They had no way to know where this 'Vikararamon' Chatsuramon had mentioned would appear, so they were heading towards the hospital. 

"Shuichon," Jenrya said. The girl was presently trying her best not to look down as Rapidmon flew, just pressing her face against the cyborg's back. "Listen… I'm sorry."

Shuichon blinked and looked up at her older brother. "For what…?"

Jenrya gave a long sigh. "For bringing you into all of this… I promised Dad I would watch out for you. I knew the only way to do that was to keep you with me. Without even thinking, though, I brought you with us when the digimon sensed these Digital Fields. I didn't think the battle would be anything out of the ordinary, but I was wrong. With the danger here, I can't pull back… but now I'm putting _you _into even more jeopardy than you would be otherwise. After everything you went through yesterday… I was just stupid for bringing you with us. I don't know how much good it will do, but I just wanted to say I was sorry…"

Shuichon continued to look at him. His expression was pained… confused… 

She gulped and looked down at the ground below. "I'm… I'm not scared…"

That was an outright lie, of course. She knew it, and she knew she wasn't supposed to tell lies. But she couldn't let her brother just beat himself up like he was. She didn't want him to be unhappy just because she was there. 

"_Both_ of you stop worrying," Rapidmon said, obviously seeing through Shuichon's fib. "Everything's gonna be just fine, so just quit it, okay?"

She smiled a bit. Everything would be fine… she didn't have to worry… Both Jenrya and Rapidmon would make sure everything was fine…

***

It would not be long now…

Muertemon stood still, silently watching Ruki as the darkness engulfed her. Through his single eye, he could see her now limp, just hanging there. Any kind of fight she could now be putting up would be only mental… and he was certain _that_ wouldn't last long. Yes, it wouldn't take much more time… Soon, his job here would be done. He could be rid of this girl…

_*Then there will be nothing she can do,*_ he thought. _*Renamon will see her weakness, and my strength… She will understand… She will know I have my peace of mind, and that hers was merely a false illusion.*_

His peace of mind… Yes. He knew what he was. He knew what his fate would be. In the world that would be created from the tasks he was carrying out, when the true order that would come into reality, he would have his place… And Renamon would…

"FIST OF THE BEAST KING!"

"FIREBALL!"

Muertemon had no time to react. Lost in his thoughts, he never saw the two attacks coming. Instead, Ruki vanished from sight as the flames plowed into him. His body was driven across the room, into and through a wall. His body fell to the ground with the rubble in the now-adjacent hospital room, and he took a few moments to try and regain his senses. 

_*Damn kids,*_ he thought._ *They got in faster than I thought…I just have to stop them… keep them at bay for a short while longer. I have to give it time to complete.*_

"ROCK BREAKER!"

Muertemon looked up as Guilmon came flying through the dust at him, his claws ablaze As the reptile neared him, he kicked up and struck Guilmon in the chest. The Child level digimon was tossed back, and Muertemon used the chance to bound to his feet. As he summoned his scythe into his hands, he remembered inwardly that he couldn't kill Guilmon just yet…

_*Doesn't mean I can't hurt the little bastard, of course…*_

Only able to really estimate where Guilmon now was in all of the dust and rubble, Muertemon swung his weapon. He did it in a way so that if he did get lucky and hit the reptile, he'd be struck with the flat part of the blade and not be torn in half. Instead, however, he found himself striking something else metallic.

It didn't take long for the dust to clear up enough for Muertemon see his blade locked with Leomon's. The skull-faced reaper grinned. "I see you're doing well."

Leomon just punched him in the face.

***

When one sees a tower of flame reach towards the sky, that's generally a good sign that something not-so-good is happening. Upon seeing this occur in the distance near the hospital, Rapidmon sped in his flight over the city.

"What the heck was that?!" Jenrya cried as they neared the area.

As if in response, something suddenly came flying up through a building below them. A large dragon with a monkey on its back. Rapidmon swerved out of the way to dodge the large digimon. Looking down, they all found the source of what had sent the Devas flying: A muscular, armored demon whose hands were glowing a bright red.

"Akumamon, you bastard!" the monkey cried as the dragon righted itself in the air. "You'll pay for that!"

After taking a few moments for his Digivice to actually get around to analyzing the Devas, Jenrya read off their information. "Majiramon… Makuramon…" He glanced down at the demon. "But… I can't get anything on him."

 "Y'know, if you little brats know what's good for you, you'll just stay out of this!" Makuramon shouted at them. 

_*Why do the Devas want us to stay out of this fight so badly?*_ Jenrya wondered. _*What's so important about us not fighting?*_

"Now, now… we can't have that." Both parties looked back down to see Akumamon now standing on what was left of the building. He gave all of them a malicious smirk. "These children are very well entitled to be in this battle… I'm sure they can at least put up more of a fight than you filthy animals."

Makuramon snarled. "Who are you calling filthy, you lousy piece of gutter trash?!"

"Hey! Listen!" Jenrya screamed to the Devas. "This guy… is he another servant of the 'Sealed Demon'? Is that demon Asmodeusmon?"

Both of the Devas looked slightly startled at his usage of the name, but Akumamon just laughed. "Yes, boy… I am Lord Asmodeusmon's loyal servant. These filthy animals are just too weak willed to dare and even speak his name…"

"I told you-!" Makuramon began, but Jenrya cut him off.

"Then he's our enemy too!" the blue-haired boy exclaimed. "If we work together, then maybe we can-"

"_Work_ with you?!" Makuramon asked. "What do you take yourself for?!"

"Makuramon," a deep voice suddenly rumbled from Majiramon's mouth. "Perhaps the child has a point…"

The monkey Deva's eyes widened. "Majiramon… what do you…"

"You know, while this is all very amusing," Akumamon said with mock-enthusiasm, his hands starting to burn red again, "I'm not about to stand idly by while you all figure out how you're going to try and defeat me. MAXIMUM FIRE!"

Both the dragon and cyborg dodged out of the way as quickly as possible when twin jets of fire shot out for them. Taking the chance, Rapidmon swooped down for the street and landed. After letting Jenrya and Shuichon off, he immediately began to rise up into the air once more. "Jen, you get somewhere safe with Shuichon!"

Then, as his partner took off into the air again, Jenrya scanned around the area. Fires were raging all over the place, pavement was torn up, and surrounding buildings had taken heavy damage. There were still a few police officers around, but for the most part they seemed to be hiding. 

"…and just _where_ would be a 'somewhere safe'?"

***

As Leomon and Guilmon pursued Muertemon, the others of that group focused on Ruki. The girl was still pinned to the wall by darkness, and her body was completely limp. "Ruki," Renamon spoke, but there was no response. 

"What did he _do_ to her…?" Hirokazu asked. 

Suddenly, Ruki's eyes snapped open. However, they were completely blank and her body made no movement other than that. Almost immediately, they heard Muertemon laughing elsewhere, exclaiming, "IT'S DONE! YES!"

This was soon followed up by a scream of, "FIST OF THE BEAST KING!" The Tamers could then soon see Muertemon flying down the hallway being pushed along by a flaming lion head. 

"Just _what_ is done?" Takato muttered.

Takato knew that this just wasn't right. For Ruki to just be hanging there, lifeless… unable to fight, snap back at her enemy… It just wasn't natural. Whatever Muertemon had done, it just went against whatever was right… To put someone like her in a state like this was just unforgivable…

Renamon's eyes narrowed. "Everyone stand back."

The tone in her voice was one of warning. There was certainly no way the others could dare argue with her, so they did as told. Then, in a movement that their eyes could barely catch, Renamon's claws slashed the darkness surrounding Ruki. To their surprise, she actually cut through it, and Ruki's body fell forward. Renamon caught her… before suddenly slumping down to her knees. 

"Renamon!" Takato exclaimed as they went over to her side.

"Are you okay, culu?" Culumon asked, hovering by Renamon's head. 

"I am…" Renamon began, and blinked hard. "I am fine." The fox rose back to her feet, and began to carry Ruki towards the doorway. "We must get out of here as soon as possible. The longer we stay near these shadows, the harder it will be to pull Ruki back from them…"

Takato nodded. "Right, we'll just-" His words were cut off and his eyes widened. He suddenly felt like something was stabbing him through the shoulder. The pain was intense, and his mind seemed to block off everything around him for a moment. Instead, he was greeted with the sight of other things… They flashed before his eyes faster than he could track them, but a few things stood out to him… a black dragon… a scream… and…

"Takato-kun?!" Juri's voice drew him back to reality.

Takato blinked, and without any words, rushed out the door past Renamon. At the end of the hallway, he could see Guilmon laying up against a wall while Leomon clashed with Muertemon. Guilmon's right shoulder looked as if had been stabbed, and the data on that area of his body was fragmented.

"Guilmon," he murmured. He glanced back at the limp Ruki in Renamon's arms, and grit his teeth. It had barely even been twenty-four hours since their first encounter with Muertemon, and he was determined to tear their lives apart, it seemed… He was attempting to shatter what they knew, what was right… He jerked his head back to look at his partner, and drew out his Digivice and a card. "GUILMON!"

The reptile looked to his Tamer. "Takato…"

"Lets go!" Takato screamed, sending the card down the side of his device. _"CARD SLASH! Super Evolution Plug-In S!"_

"EVOLUTION_"

_"Guilmon, EVOLVE! GROWMON!"_

Leomon jumped out of the way as the space in the hallway vanished _very_ quickly, and Growmon slammed a claw into Muertemon. The force sent the demon and dragon both through a wall and out of the building. 

_"CARD SLASH! White Wings!"_

Dashing to the hole in the wall, Takato found now-winged Growmon floating next to it. "Takato?" the large dragon questioned, a worried expression on his face. "Are you okay…?"

"I'm fine!" Takato shouted, staring down at the street below them. Muertemon had made a good-sized crater with the impact of his fall, but Takato knew he probably wasn't hurt much. "We've got to stop him… now… before he hurts anyone else…"

Growmon just nodded, and after allowing Takato onto his back, flew down towards the ground. As they went, Takato could see Rapidmon fighting what looked to be another demon. To his surprise, he also saw Majiramon and Makuramon doing the same. 

As Growmon landed, they saw that Muertemon was already back on his feet, just dusting himself off. "Geez, kid," Muertemon sighed. "Give a little warning next time!"

"Why?" Takato growled. "Why are you doing this?!"

"Oh, now that's a simple one," Muertemon chuckled. "Because it is the correct path."

Takato's eyes widened. "Correct… path? How could something like what you did to Ruki be _correct_?!"

Muertemon's ruby eye glinted. "She stands in my way, and in the way of Lord Asmodeusmon's goals. Now that I have the information from her mind that is needed, what's wrong with just leaving her as a mindless shell? She's of no use to anyone anymore. It's a good way to keep her out of the way until I get the chance to kill her, at least."

"You bastard!" Takato screamed. "How can you be so heartless?! How can you come in and just try to do these things to us?! For what reason?! How could any living creature make another want to suffer like you do?!"

"There's a key difference between you and I, Takato," Muertemon said. "You let the things you 'care' about get in your way. All I have is… things that I desire. So I have no choice but to work for _my _benefit. That is the true way of the world, be it the digital or human one. The way some human beings or digimon blind themselves with trifle things like justice, faith, hope, friendship, or love is just a mask to try and make themselves feel like their lives have meaning. Worth. That is all just some fantasy created by desperate minds. A façade. There is only one true meaning, one true purpose for _anything_. Power. To gain it. To enforce it. 

"Digimon were created with this concept in mind. This correct path is programmed into their very data, and it is something that cannot be denied. No matter how much they attempt to deny it, that is the truth. It can't be fought. You should know this by now, Takato. And I'm _sure_ you know it, Guilmon. It is your instinct. It is the instinct of _all_ digimon. 

"This world is corrupt. Filled with little more than pathetic humans hiding behind masks. Always expecting others to do things for them. To save them. Protect them. Provide for them. It makes me sick… Even worse, this mentality of hiding behind false masks has seeped into the Digital World, and is destroying it from the inside out. Just as it has happened to my world, so too will it happen to yours… 

"This is the correct way. The only correct path. The path of Lord Asmodeusmon."

"You… you're wrong," Takato said. "This isn't correct… nothing about it is correct!"

Muertemon chuckled. "You're mad, aren't you Takato? You want to _kill_ me, don't you? For what? Hurting those you care about? Or is it something… else?"

"Wh-what are you talking about?" Takato muttered.

"That bloodlust hiding inside your heart," Muertemon grinned. "The more angry you get, the more it _screams_ to come out. To slaughter what stands before you. To kill. Become stronger… and stronger… until you realize that is your true path."

"You're… you're wrong!" Takato replied.

"Am I?" Muertemon asked, and glanced around the area. There were several police officers hiding behind vehicles, Takato realized just then. They didn't seem to know what to do, but weren't willing to retreat. Muertemon raised a hand, and then shouted, "DAY OF THE DEAD!"

Several small skulls appeared all around him, and beams fired off from them. All at the police officers.

They never stood a chance.

Screams erupted all around them as the beams blew apart vehicles they were hiding behind, or just simply tore through the officers' bodies themselves. In just a matter of seconds, nothing was left living in the immediate area except Muertemon, Takato, and Growmon.

"You… you…" Growmon stammered, and then his eyes became slits. "You lousy…"

"Such frail creatures, human beings," Muertemon muttered, giving a mocking frown as he glanced around. 

Takato ground his teeth together as he tried to keep from looking at the dead bodies littered around them. "They… how could you… they didn't do anything… they were just here to try and protect others… They didn't deserve anything like that…" 

His breathing was becoming heavy and uneasy. His Digivice was also beginning to shine…

Akumamon suddenly dropped down beside Muertemon, launching a blast of flame into the air to keep his enemies at bay. "What are you-" the muscular demon stopped as he looked at Takato & Growmon. "…Muertemon, I think you pissed them off."

Muertemon just waved a hand. "Eh, they'll get over it."

"You," Takato snarled, "YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!"

Red light burst off Takato's body, and in an instant, Growmon was no more. In his place was an even larger, cybernetic dragon. Armor covered his chest, arms, and the lower-half of his head. And he looked even angrier than before, if that was possible. 

Muertemon cackled. "Or, maybe not!"

"MegaloGrowmon!" Takato commanded. "ATTACK!"

**-End Chapter 06**

**----**

**Revision Notes:** Besides Jenrya, Rapidmon, and Shuichon's little Deva detour and Akumamon's presence, readers of the original SL will notice I'm following along the same BASIC path of the original. I just think I'm doing a better job of it here.

Oh, and as I noted sometime in the original SL, I know that in the anime Majiramon is just a mindless beast. I prefer to try and give him some personality and not just be cannon fodder. 

**Next: Chapter 07 – "Vengeful Rampage"**


	7. Vengeful Rampage

Crossing Points Book One: Dark Clouds 

**Chapter 07:** "Vengeful Rampage"

By Infinity Blade

"Preparing Yuggoth…"

Reika glanced at the control panel of her rotating chair nervously. Something didn't feel _right_ about this… She just couldn't determine what. Was it because she was following Sano's orders? Or was it something completely different? Either way, she just knew this was bothering her…

The signals flashing across their sensors were intense. There had been only one time when this many digimon had been converged on one area before, and even then it was brief, as many of those had died right away. 

_*When Shaggai was first activated…* _

"Yuggoth, activate!" 

At Megumi's cry, Reika's eyes bolted up to the large screen that surrounded them. Yuggoth was locked on the targets, and every digital creature in that sector was now set to be deleted…

Just as the program was preparing to do its duty, Reika noticed a warning light going off. She didn't even get a chance to utter a word about the warning, as some kind of massive power was suddenly burst forth from one area and spread out across all of the Digital Fields. It caused a light on the screens so intense that, even behind her visor, Reika had to squeeze her eyes shut. When she opened them, the Yuggoth program they had activated was gone, and…

"One of the signals just went off the charts!" Megumi said. "I… think we've seen this one before, but something about it is _completely_ different!"

Reika gnashed her teeth together. _*I knew I had a bad feeling about this…*_

***

MegaloGrowmon stood towering over Muertemon and Akumamon. The pupils of the beast's yellow eyes were nothing more than black slits as he stared down at them, ready to strike at any moment. The Perfect level dragon was really quite fearsome, and certainly something most sane minds would _not_ want to fight.

"MegaloGrowmon!" Takato commanded, his voice filled with an incredible level of anger. "ATTACK!"

The dragon complied. The humongous beast lunged towards the duo in his sights, thrusting his armor-covered claw down at them. Both dodged to either side, and the claw drove into the already-shattered concrete. Snarling, he immediately swept his claw out of the ground, tossing broken chunks of pavement in several directions. As one piece of that pavement found its way through a building's window, the blade mounted on MegaloGrowmon's arm just barely missed finding Muertemon's head.

"What's the matter, Takato?" Muertemon grinned, his ruby eye staring intently at the boy. "Mad?"

Takato's expression only seemed to become angrier. "You're evil," he said. His voice trembled, and his body shook as he spoke. "You just delight in the suffering of others… You're not going to stop until you've torn our lives apart…"

"He's certainly a master of the obvious," Akumamon snorted.

Takato gave a quick, dangerous look to the muscle-bound demon, but kept his eyes focused mainly on Muertemon. "MegaloGrowmon. Kill him."

Roaring, the jets on MegaloGrowmon's back activated, and he launched himself at Muertemon again. The Soldier of Death actually looked _surprised_, though, as the cyborg grabbed him with both claws before he could escape. Using both his large legs and thrusters, MegaloGrowmon went into the air, holding Muertemon above his head. Then, he jetted straight down and plowed the skull-faced Perfect into another section of the road. The impact tore apart the street even worse than before. Dust flew everywhere and shards of concrete were tossed so far that some flew over buildings, while other, larger ones went right _through_ the structures. The ground shook immensely, and several nearby cars were tossed away like they were nothing from the shockwave, again causing more property damage to the surrounding buildings. 

Being further away from it, Takato and Akumamon weren't thrown anywhere by this. The shockwave did, however, make Takato fall, while the demon seemed to barely hold his ground. 

It became relatively quiet, and as he sat up Takato almost wondered if MegaloGrowmon had really killed him that quickly…

That train of thought quickly went off track. An angry scream of "DARK EXECUTION!" pierced through the silence, and a wave of dark blades drilled across MegaloGrowmon's chest. As the dragon cried out and was pushed across the ground, his large feet digging trenches as they were pushed along, Takato let out a horrifying scream. Clutching his chest, he doubled over from his position, the pain from his partner being transferred directly to him in a way that felt more intense than anything before. 

As Muertemon's attack subsided, MegaloGrowmon dug his claws into the ground to stop himself from sliding. He then fell to his knees, panting heavily, before glancing up to see Muertemon emerging from the dust.

"Sorry… Takato…" Muertemon gasped, breathing quite heavily as well. "Your little pet isn't going to succeed that easily… but I'll give you one thing. That _hurt_. So, I'll have to pay you back… and I am so _sorely_ tempted to just drill a hole right through this damn dragon right here and now."

"Muertemon!" Akumamon bellowed. "You know that you can't-!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Muertemon interrupted him, waving a hand dismissively. "Mind your own damned business!"

"This _is-_"

"Go finish off the Devas!" Muertemon shouted, and then chuckled a bit. "Of course, they look a little scared to even _try_ and get into the middle of this…"

Takato glanced behind them. Majiramon, with Makuramon still atop his head, was merely floating at a safe distance, watching the battle. Rapidmon was doing the same, and it was obvious that none of them could see the advantage of trying to get into this battle…

_*But why wouldn't Jen and Rapidmon try to help?*_ Takato wondered. _*They couldn't really be scared… could they?*_

Shaking his head, Takato started to lift himself to his feet. He couldn't let them win, he had to beat them… no matter what… 

"ATOMIC BLASTER!"

As Takato screamed the attack name, MegaloGrowmon pushed himself up and the cannons on his chest began to charge up. Grinning, Muertemon held up his scythe as it started to glow black. As soon as MegaloGrowmon launched twin blasts from his cannons, Muertemon swung his scythe down.

"DARK EXECUTION!"

 Crimson and ebony collided as the two attacks met. For a moment, neither side wanted to give… and then the next instant, a large explosion had erupted where the two attacks had met. 

Everything around them shuddered again, and when the dust cleared enough for Takato to see, MegaloGrowmon and Muertemon were both still standing, neither any worse off than before. Nobody would be using the street they were fighting on again anytime soon, though, as there wasn't anything _left_ of it anymore.

"Well," Muertemon smirked, "this is certainly proving to be fun…"

***

"Shaggai System boot-up complete."

Reika gripped the side of her control panel tightly. Memories of the day Shaggai was first activated flowed back to the forefront of her mind. The chaos it caused, what came from it… Those horrible, horrible screams…

"Megumi," Reika said just loud enough for her partner to hear. 

"Yeah?" the other woman asked. "Are you okay, Reika?"

"Is this the right thing?" Reika asked. "What we're doing?"

"…I couldn't really say," Megumi murmured. "But it shouldn't mess up like it did the first time… the second time we used it, it worked, even if it did shut down…"

"I suppose," Reika sighed, thankful for the fact they were seated back-to-back. She didn't want Megumi to see how nervous her body language was. "I just… I don't know. Something about using this system, now…"

"You mean without Yamaki-shitsuchou here?"

Reika paused and bowed her head. "Yeah. Guess you could say that…"

***

Antiramon couldn't remember the last time he had been in this much pain. He actually didn't think there had _been_ a time when he was… but then, he remembered. That time long ago… _*Before Zhuqiaomon-sama… when all of this started…*_

The rabbit Deva shook his head hard. Thinking about all of that wouldn't help him…

He was presently, slowly but surely, making his way across a number of rooftops. He wasn't really sure which way he was going, actually. His senses felt so blurred after Rapidmon's attack, combined with the process of pulling himself out of the rubble that he had a hard time focusing. He just knew he had to keep moving, even if he was just basically limping along. He didn't want to give himself the time to rest… Although he desperately wanted to, he couldn't let himself fall asleep. He wasn't really sure if he would ever be able to wake up again…

He wondered, briefly, if he was cut out for this. For so long, all he had done was stand at the Phoenix Gate, guarding the passage to his master… 

The thing was, however, that no one ever tried to pass him. It had thus been so long since he was last forced to battle, that no matter what natural instincts he had, he was rusty.

Unlike some of the other Devas, too, he was not war-like. He had no real need to feel that violence was truly necessary to solve all problems. 

_*I tried to turn them away peacefully,*_ Antiramon thought. _*Yet they continued to persist…*_

Antiramon's encounter with the 'Tamer' and his partner was the first time he had ever seen the face of his 'enemy'. It was truly not what the rabbit Deva had been anticipating. 

_*They didn't seem to want harm to befall their own kind. And that girl… she seemed like nothing more than a child. Is that _truly_ our 'enemy', Zhuqiaomon-sama…?*_

Antiramon froze, and his large ears perked up. His senses were picking something up. What it was, however, he couldn't determine… 

_*Vikararamon? …no, it's something other than that… something…*_

Antiramon's eyes widened. His focus was now suddenly narrowed, and he knew _exactly_ which direction he needed to go in…

***

_*What am I doing here?*_

Those same thoughts had run through Jaarin's mind at least a hundred times by this point. The teenager was presently standing behind a crowd of people that were being blocked off by the police. No one could really get past them, so those that were choosing to stay were attempting to figure out just what the hell was going on in the giant fog patches ahead. Included in the crowd were a number of news reporters and cameramen that were probably trying to bribe their way past.

_*This is… just what _is_ this?*_

There was certainly _something_ going on in there. Yet the law enforcement seemed to be intent on not letting people inside, insisting it was dangerous… but the question was what _kind_ of danger. They couldn't _seriously_ buy into the same theory that Rinchei did… they had to know what was within that fog…

Suddenly, Jaarin yelped as she felt someone grab her arm. Snapping her head to one side, she let out a small gasp as she saw Rinchei, out of breath, and definitely _not_ looking to be in a good mood…

"O- Oniichan…"

"We're going home," Rinchei said sternly, "now. What are you doing out here?! It's not safe!"

"Not safe from what?" Jaarin asked with a curious look.

Rinchei smacked his forehead. "Jaarin, you're not a little kid, so stop acting like one. There aren't any monsters in that stupid fog. And if there were, I don't know _why_ the hell you would want to see them!"

Jaarin looked to the ground. "Listen… I don't… I don't know, okay?"

Her elder brother was starting to look more and more irritated. "Oh, yeah. You're _really_ making a lot of sense, little sister…"

With a slight growl, Jaarin jerked her arm away from him. "Listen, you said I'm not a little kid, right? Then I can take care of myself and don't need you to take care of me, okay?"

 Rinchei just stared at her. As she watched his angry expression vanish, she saw a look in his eyes that seemed almost… hurt. 

Jaarin turned away and crossed her arms. "Oniichan, just… leave me alone, okay?"

"Jaarin…" Rinchei spoke. "I-"

A horrifying scream brought an abrupt end to their conversation. The cry sounded inhuman, like something from the pits of hell itself. The siblings' attention was brought back to what was happening in front of the police barricade. Everyone stood transfixed in their spots as more thick fog mixed with streams of black and red power suddenly rushed out of the ground right before the police.

"What the hell…?" Rinchei questioned.

_*What…*_ Jaarin thought. _*What is this? And why do I feel like I'm about to be sick…?*_

As quickly as it came, the fog dispersed. In it's place, however, was something much more frightening. Floating in the air above the crowd was what looked to be a withered, old, _dead_ man. He had wrinkled, gray skin, and long white hair that fell across either side of his head. He wore a long, black cloak and a necklace of miniature skulls. Finally, his eyes sockets were hollow… black and lifeless. 

Floating around him were several gray, transparent ghost-like creatures. Below, there were many other beasts: demonic-looking dogs. 

After viewing these monsters, it didn't take much else to send nearly everyone running. Several police officers took cover in or behind vehicles, but even still there were several of _them_ that ran as well. Jaarin, however, lingered in place for a few short moments, staring at these monsters with both fear and awe.

Rinchei had begun running, but quickly went dashing back for his sister. "JAARIN!"

The cloaked, eyeless man looked down as the eldest Lee child screamed. "Shademon," he said, his voice holding absolutely no kind of emotion. "Him."

Two of the ghosts suddenly swooped down. Just as Rinchei reached Jaarin, each one of the ghosts took one of Rinchei's arms and pulled him up into the air.

"ONIICHAN!" Jaarin cried, the reality of what was happening now finally hitting her. 

"Lee child."

Jaarin turned around and shrieked to find the old man was now right behind her. She couldn't bring herself to run, however, out of both fear of this… thing, and the other creatures he seemed to command. 

"I am Hadesmon, servant of Asmodeusmon," the old man said, his tone still lacking all emotion. "I had come here to intercept another enemy, but sensing what I do from you is most… beneficial."

"Wh-what are you talking about?" she whimpered, trying her hardest not to look right into his horrible face, only to wind up looking at the ghosts or demon dogs. That wasn't much better. To make matters worse, there was a rather disgusting stench in the air, which seemed to be coming from this 'Hadesmon.' If Jaarin were to make a bet, she would have said it was what rotting flesh would smell like. It was all she could really do to keep from being sick right then and there.

She wondered briefly what the police were doing… and regretted making the effort to look as she found them fending off the demon dogs. One officer was lying on the ground, with one dog standing atop and sending its sharp teeth right down for him…

Jaarin quickly looked away, only to be right face-to-face with Hadesmon again.

"Prototype Green," he stated.

"What…?" Jaarin questioned, having no understanding of what those words meant in reference to her.

Suddenly, Hadesmon's hand snapped out and wrapped around her neck. She gasped as his cold, wrinkled skin pressed against her flesh as he then lifted her off the ground.

"JAARIN!" Rinchei shouted, still struggling against the Shademon. "Let her go, you bastard!"

"You do not know?" Hadesmon asked her. "You have been lost… unknown. A missing piece… perhaps, the problem is that you did not realize… Perhaps, that is why I was drawn to Realize here. Or why you were drawn to this spot…"

"L-let go," Jaarin was barely able to gasp out, "please…"

Hadesmon still made no indication he cared one way or another. Instead, he reached out with his other hand and grabbed her backpack. "Here… yes, I can sense it so clearly now…" With a movement that had a lot more force than one would expect from a creature like Hadesmon, he ripped open the backpack and spilled the contents out onto the street below. Much of it wasn't important, really… some notepads, pencils, and various miscellaneous things… but there was one thing in particular that stood out from the rest. 

It was a small device with a screen on it, colored solid green with a silver stripe around the screen, and silver buttons. Once this device clattered to the ground, Hadesmon released Jaarin and the girl fell to her knees, clutching her throat and gasping for breath, even despite the hideous smell in the air.

"Prototype Green D-Ark," Hadesmon said, not even looking down at her or the device. It crossed her mind just then that he probably _wasn't_ seeing anything…

Hadesmon's head tilted to one side, as he seemed to be thinking about something despite his emotionless state. "A rather pathetic failure, truly. You do not even know what that is, I can tell. Still, you may possibly still be of some use to Lord Asmodeusmon…."

"ASHIPATORAVANA!"

Hadesmon's head jerked back up into an upright position, and at least a dozen Shademon suddenly appeared on his left side. Just as they did, a large, armored, humanoid rabbit came dropping down from the sky, his arms in the shape of axes. With the Shademon being where they were, they prevented the rabbit from striking Hadesmon and were instead destroyed themselves. 

"Deva Antiramon," Hadesmon said, not bothering to turn and face the rabbit as his arms morphed back to normal. "Injured, too. Foolish."

"Leave these humans out of this," Antiramon stated spitefully. "You are a fragment of the Sealed Demon, and thus what happens to me is of no concern!"

Hadesmon turned around, now facing the rabbit with his hollow eye sockets. "Your downfall, and the downfall of your masters is the fact you are all quite shortsighted…"

***

When Jenrya had first proposed to Makuramon and Majiramon that they work together against Akumamon, the monkey Deva had vehemently thrown the offer back in his face. Of course, as the demon started to attack the both of them, they soon discovered that there was no choice. Though there was no agreement voiced, both Devas joined in with Rapidmon attacking the demonic warrior.

Now that Akumamon was so close to the battle with MegaloGrowmon and Muertemon, however, it was too dangerous for _any_ of them to try and interfere. 

At that moment, Jenrya was crouched behind a turned over car with his little sister beside him. He glanced out briefly to see that the battle was now just consisting of Muertemon dodging swipes from the raging cybernetic dragon. The two humans had to brace themselves every once in awhile, however, as whenever MegaloGrowmon wound up striking the ground, a tremor would ripple through the surrounding area. 

Jenrya couldn't ever remember seeing MegaloGrowmon fight with such reckless abandon. He didn't seem to care about much other than tearing Muertemon apart. For that matter, from what he could see in the distance between them, neither did Takato…

"Jen!" The blue-haired boy turned around to see Rapidmon landing behind the car with them, though it obviously didn't provide his large body with much cover. "I think this is getting just a _little_ too heated…"

Jenrya nodded, briefly eyeing the Devas in the sky. "We'd be perfectly open for attack right now, you know…"

"A-yup," Rapidmon sighed. "Just hoping they're not _that_ stupid… don't think dragon-boy is, but Makuramon…"

"Yeah," Jenrya muttered, and then sighed too. "…it's getting way too dangerous around here. We need to do what we should have before… Rapidmon, take Shuichon and go."

Shuichon's eyes widened, while Rapidmon just blinked a couple of times. "You're coming too, right Jen?" the cyborg questioned.

Jenrya frowned deeply. "No. I don't think I have that choice right now…" The ground rumbled again, and the boy sighed. "It was stupid of me to bring Shuichon out here, and it's just gotten a lot worse than any of us could have imagined… Takato and MegaloGrowmon are right out there fighting. I don't know where Ruki and the others are, so… I just can't abandon him with two of those demons, _and_ two Devas nearby."

"But Jen-niichan," Shuichon said, grabbing her older brother's sleeve. "You can't just stay here by yourself…"

It wasn't like he _wanted_ to, of course. But he didn't feel like he had a choice in the matter. She had to understand the kind of danger they were facing here…

"Jenrya! Rapidmon!"

Jenrya blinked hard as he heard the familiar voice, and looked over towards the hospital to see several figures coming towards them. Juri, Leomon, Hirokazu, Kenta, Culumon… Lastly, there was the one that had called out to them, Renamon, carrying the limp form of Ruki.

"Ruki…?" Jenrya questioned as they neared him. The _last_ thing he would have expected would be to see someone like her in a position like that. "What happened to her?!"

As the small group came to a stop, Renamon kneeled down to lay Ruki gently on the ground. The fox was breathing heavily… and as she set Ruki down, she herself nearly fell over.

"You don't seem to be in too good a shape, either," Rapidmon muttered.

"I'm… fine," Renamon said, her voice strained. Rapidmon and Jenrya just glared at her, causing the fox to let out a long breath and rest up against the turned over car. "The hospital was a trap… Muertemon took Ruki… did something… don't know what…" She blinked several times and rubbed her eyes. "Our connection is deep… whatever happens to her…"

"I knew something wasn't right, culu!" Culumon said to the fox as he landed atop her head. Renamon didn't even seem to notice him, and Jenrya sort of wondered if she would tolerate that under normal circumstances.

"Takato and Guilmon appear to be battling fiercely," Leomon observed, looking out from over the top of the car. There was then another tremor, even stronger than the last, and Jenrya grimaced.

"That's putting things mildly," the boy muttered. "…okay, change in plans. Rapidmon, take anyone here that can't defend themselves right now. Shuichon, Ruki, Hirokazu-"

"_Hey_-" Hirokazu began, but came to a quick stop once he saw Jenrya's gray eyes glare at him. 

"It's too dangerous," Jenrya said. "We can't afford to have anyone here right now that doesn't have some kind of defense."

"He's right, you know," Kenta muttered.

"But Jen-niichan," Shuichon said, frowning, "_you're_ staying…"

Jenrya looked down at her, sighing again. "Shuichon… I just can't-"

"I do believe," Leomon said, suddenly drawing his sword, "that any opportunity for escape has been missed."

"Leomon?" Juri questioned. "What…"

Jenrya looked up at Rapidmon, who now had a similar look to Leomon's in his eyes as both stared over the car. The blue-haired boy looked out from behind their hiding spot to find Akumamon now approaching them as Muertemon dodged yet another blow from MegaloGrowmon.

Jenrya ground his teeth together. _*Crap. Too many of us are gathered here… I should have figured it wouldn't take long for him to notice us…*_

"Well, that scraps _that_ plan!" Rapidmon exclaimed and, without pause launched himself into the air while Leomon took a leap over the car. 

"Be careful!" Juri cried after her digimon.

Jenrya bit his lip as he dug in his pocket for some cards. They had to make this as quick as possible… there couldn't be _any_ room for error with this many of their friends in danger and unable to defend themselves. He cast a quick glance to Ruki and Renamon. _*Just hang on until we can get you two some place safe…*_

_"CARD SLASH!"_ Jenrya cried as he drew one card along the side of his Digivice. _"High Speed Plug-In B!"_

Rapidmon literally vanished from sight for a brief second before he could next be seen ramming into Akumamon. The armored demon was pushed across the street for several seconds before he roared, bringing his fists up into the air and slamming them into Rapidmon's head. The cyborg screamed as he was planted face-first into the pavement. 

"You filthy dog," Akumamon spat, and then kicked the other Perfect in the head. This sent him flipping over in the air before he plowed into a building. 

"RAPIDMON!" Jenrya cried before suddenly bending over and clutching his skull. "Damn…"

"Lee-kun…?" Juri questioned, looking over at him worriedly.

"Dude, are you okay…?" Hirokazu asked, coming over to his side. 

"Fine," Jenrya grunted, looking back up. Leomon was standing in a defensive position, obviously judging his next move. The blue-haired boy looked over at Juri and tossed her a card. She blinked a bit and looked down at it. "Just slash it. Since you haven't learned how to summon a Blue Card, Leomon needs all the help he can get."

"Right…" she murmured, and then smiled at him. "Thank you."

Jenrya grinned. "No problem. If we're going to stand any chance here, we need to work as a team."

She nodded and brought the card up to her Digivice. _"CARD SLASH! Berserk Sword!"_

Leomon blinked hard as his own blade suddenly morphed into a much larger, silver sword. It was a blade that was normally wielded by a Knightmon. 

"Hmph," Akumamon scoffed, drawing one of his blades and holding it with both hands. "Simply making your sword larger isn't going to help you obtain victory."

Leomon's eyes just narrowed and her rushed forward. Akumamon braced himself, and the lion leapt into the air, holding his large blade high. "Lion King…!" Energy surged from his hands up into the sword, and it soon erupted with power itself.

"SWORD!" With that exclamation, Leomon brought the sword down towards Akumamon. As their blades met, the power surged out from Leomon's and the force of the blow was so powerful that it caused the ground to cave in beneath Akumamon's feet. Even still, the demon held his ground and didn't let the new hole he had fallen into affect him much. 

Akumamon smirked up at the lion. "If you think an Adult level such as yourself can defeat me, you are sadly mistaken." He moved one hand away from the sword's hilt and was then blocking Leomon's large sword while holding his own with only one hand. The demon then grabbed the second sword on his back and unsheathed it, quickly swiping for the lion man's midsection with it. 

Leomon pushed away from Akumamon, just barely avoiding his enemy's attack. As Leomon landed, the sword of Knightmon he held shifted back into his own weapon. Seeing that his chance to fully utilize that power had passed, he cursed beneath his breath.

"You are quite brave, I will give you that," Akumamon chuckled as he leapt out of the hole. "But _only_ that!"

While still in mid-air, however, Akumamon was met with Rapidmon appearing right in front of him. "Miss me?!" the cyborg screamed and punched the demon in the face, knocking the demon into the street below. "I'm not wasting _any_ time with you, buddy… GOLDEN TRIANGLE!" Rapidmon held his arms out and legs together as a triangle of energy appeared in front of him and launched down for his opponent. 

Akumamon's eyes widened and he dropped his swords. "MAXIMUM FIRE!" Flames erupted from his palms and met the Golden Triangle in the air. As both the attacks met, they canceled each other out. Chuckling again, Akumamon took his swords off the pavement and rose to his feet. "If this is truly all you have, you may as just roll over and die now…"

"You talk big, but we'll see if you can back it up!" Rapidmon shouted. "You're outnumbered, and after we're done with you, your pal won't stand a chance against _three_ of us!"

Akumamon laughed, and it suddenly crossed Jenrya's mind that he was getting tired of hearing that. "You fools don't seem to truly grasp what's happening around here… If you kill me, do you think it will be so easy to just deal with Muertemon and be done with it? There's much more, you know…"

Jenrya knew he was right about that… they had Majiramon and Makuramon still hovering right above them… _*Plus, there's still that Vikararamon Chatsuramon mentioned…*_

"Not just the Devas, either," Akumamon grinned. "It would be very interesting to see what'll happen to your other two friends in their present state once there's nothing left to kill…"

"ATOMIC BLASTER!"

"DARK EXECUTION!"

Both of the Perfect level digimon launched their attacks at each other again, resulting in another large, powerful explosion. The children braced themselves for the rumbling that quickly came, and Jenrya focused his vision on Takato. 

"Is he talking about Takato-kun?" Juri murmured. "But… what does he mean? Takato-kun wouldn't hurt us…"

Jenrya's gray eyes narrowed. Something _was_ wrong about the way Takato was acting… and Akumamon appeared to know more about it than he was telling. Plus, with the way MegaloGrowmon and Muertemon were continuing to fight, they weren't going to accomplish anything but obliterating the entire surrounding area…

Deep inside, Jenrya knew just one thing. If everyone was going to make it out of this fight safely, the course of the battle needed to be changed. They couldn't win with the way it was going… and _someone_ had to start the changing of that course.

Without a word to his sister or friends, Jenrya suddenly dashed out around the car and towards the battlefield. 

"Lee-kun!" Juri shouted.

"Where are you going, culu?!" Culumon cried.

"Are you _nuts?!_" Hirokazu screamed.

Jenrya attempted to pay their shouts no mind. "Rapidmon, cover me!"

While he obviously was surprised at his Tamer's action, Rapidmon did as he was told, quickly taking aim at Akumamon. "HOMING MISSILE!"

As the multiple rockets streaked down for Akumamon, Jenrya put on the speed even more. Something needed to be done, and at that point in time, _he_ was the one that needed to do it…

***

"Shaggai System at eighty percent…"

_*This isn't right,*_ Reika thought as Megumi spoke.

"Eighty-five…"

_*All of these unusual energy signatures… we've never seen anything like this before…*_

"Ninety…"

_*But at the same time, what else can we do? Just sit back and watch as these monsters tear apart the city?*_

"Ninety-five percent…"

_*Still…*_

"Ninety-six…"

_*It's not just us, is it?*_

"Ninety-seven…"

_*There are those children…*_

"Ninety-eight…"

_*Their digimon…*_

"Ninety-nine…"

As the system reached maximum and everyone within Hypnos prepared to fully activate the Shaggai System, the entire building shook violently. Explosions could be heard erupting below, and the entire place just simply went black…

**-End Chapter 07**

----

**Revision Notes and Other Things:** Do I even need to say it anymore? I think I'm rather extensively leaping away from the original Silver Lining at this point. In the beginning of these revisions, it wasn't the intent to go this far outside of what I wrote before, but, well… things happened.

Namely, I realized certain plot points that were going to be introduced MUCH later wouldn't work that well AT their originally intended points. So I'm having to shift certain plot points back earlier, such as the introduction of Asmodeusmon's other Soldiers of Death. Other than Muertemon, just sprung up randomly in the original SL. 

Another thing is the 'Prototype Green' thing, which was always a part of the original SL but hadn't been fully touched on yet at that point. To be completely blunt, I'll tell everyone now that Jaarin was not the character originally intended to take this role. That was Akira, swiped from the game Digimon World 2. However, I have since realized I can't properly recreate Akira's character in this world setting. And I have found that Jaarin is going to be a MUCH more useful character… 

So while taking these things into consideration, I've had to stop for a bit and re-plot various things. Hence the delay between Chapters 06 and 07. Sorry about that.

As you may have noticed, this series is undergoing a name change. The reason for that is that this world is (hopefully) going to be VERY large eventually, and I won't be able to keep it contained into just this one series. There are multiple different series and stories plotted out to revolve around this world, and these stories as they stand now are really just starting points. So from now on, the entire universe as a whole will be referred to as "Crossing Points." This particular story will be "Crossing Points Book One: Dark Clouds." I'll give it a few chapters before I completely change everything around so people are aware of this, but this is the name it'll have from now on.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and sorry for the long-winded author's note. XD

**Disclaimer:** Digimon Tamers and all related characters are owned Bandai, Toei Animation, and Akiyoshi Hongo. I am merely writing for my enjoyment and not for profit of any kind. All original characters are mine, with assistance from Megaraptor on Digimon creation.


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